


Les coeurs affames

by Flightless_corvid



Category: Cobra Kai (Web Series), Karate Kid (Movies)
Genre: Anal Sex, Chef AU, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Falling In Love, Food as a Metaphor for Love, Learning to be a better dad, M/M, Not betad, Oral Sex, alternative universe, annoyed at first sight, food as flirting, in the kitchen, parenting, slight praise kink, will update tags as I update chapters
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-07
Updated: 2021-01-24
Packaged: 2021-03-09 21:28:23
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 35,327
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27933082
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Flightless_corvid/pseuds/Flightless_corvid
Summary: Daniel Larusso is a chef specializing in Japanese cuisine who won a top young Chef competition in 1984. He won against Johnny Lawrence, a French trained chef. Daniel quickly became a rising chef star. 34 years later he returns to California to make a new restaurant. Johnny is now the head chef of Kreese’s three Micheln star French steak house, stuck right where he was in the 80’s. Nothing could be more annoying than your rival making a new restaurant right down the street from where you work.
Relationships: Daniel LaRusso/Johnny Lawrence
Comments: 54
Kudos: 78





	1. Acidulation

**Author's Note:**

> Sorry for my mistakes! I’m a little rusty. I’m hoping to post the next few chapters soon, thanks so much.

_Acidulation_ (n.) - the process of making something acidic or sour with lemon or lime juice*

Johnny Lawrence had a very specific morning routine. Waking up hung over was normal so first thing is always coffee and cold bacon he cooked on the day he preps his meals. Shower, 15 minutes of morning news (mostly for traffic and weather), maybe hit a bowl of weed, and then off to the races in the firebird. 

Johnny was a French trained chef that’s head chef at Cobra Roi, a three Michelin Star steakhouse created by Chef John Kreese. He had been working there since the 80’s and done every job from busboy up to head chef. He could say that his passion was food, but he didn’t have passion for much but being annoyed by life’s audacity anymore. 

Kreese is a hard ass who trained in France at the same culinary school Julia Child went too after his tours in Vietnam. He runs his restaurants like a drill squad and expects perfection. He trained Johnny to be a chef when he was in high school. He likes precision and expects perfection every time or you will hear about it, loudly. 

Back then he wanted to travel the world and learn about every cuisine he could find. He wanted to teach people about what he learned and work to make food accessible for the less fortunate. He use to have goals and dreams. 

Now he just had overdue bills and aching joints. 

On the ride up to the hills from his shit apartment in a not so great neighborhood was the calmest part of his day. Whipping the firebird around corners, letting his music blare even with the windows down. The rich people who lived out here could get over it. 

His peaceful morning however is disrupted when he pulls up to the stoplight before Cobra Roi. 

“Son of a fucking BITCH!”

It seems someone bought the new building across the street, it’s going to be a restaurant. 

_“Coming soon:_  
_Miyagi Sushi and Ramen_  
_By Chef Daniel LaRusso from Food network”_

This was a nightmare. It had to be. There was no way Daniel fucking LaRusso moved back and is making a restaurant right near Cobra Roi. He felt furious and annoyed at the audacity of the little fuck. He hears someone behind him honk for the green light that had already turned. Johnny peels into the parking lot of work and punches the dashboard a couple of times for good measure. This felt like LaRusso using his stupid ass fame to rub it into Johnny’s face. 

Work wasn’t going to be fun at all. Because he knew Kreese noticed and Kreese has an elephant’s memories for Johnny’s past failures. 

In 1984 there was a big culinary competition, The All Valley young Chefs finals. The prizes included: culinary school paid for, a huge set of kitchen essentials, a company working with you to create your first cook book, and a set of cooking specials for daytime tv. 

Johnny was a finalist, the person he cooked against was Daniel LaRusso. An annoyingly sunshiny boy from Jersey, he went to the same school as he did. He was trained by an internationally famed Japanese chef, Miyagi. Daniel beat him, after only being cooking for less than a year. 

Johnny had been working with Kreese since middle school for that moment, and he couldn’t make it count. He learned that he belonged on the line, not being some famous chef. It made most of his dreams about cooking useless, now he just wanted to make enough money to get by. 

Daniel however became really successful. His cook books sold well and he was a likable tv chef. It only added to his story that he was a really young famous chef. In the 90’s Food Network launched, that’s when Daniel really got famous. Tv shows, guest judging, travel food shows, cookware, you name it. People knew who LaRusso was, like in a normal household way. He was hard to avoid. 

Now as he is putting on a fresh white chef’s coat, it’s like reliving the nightmare of loosing. He feels nauseous and probably has taken 4 breaths in the past seven minutes. Loosing to Daniel was the first of many fuckups, it was like the starting point of being dirtbag looser chef Johnny. 

He finally makes himself head through the back door to the kitchen. He can tell already that everyone is on edge, Kreese is probably furious. Before he can sneak off to his office before service Bobby grabs his sleeve. 

“Hey man. Tread lightly. He is on one.” Johnny rolls his eyes and grumbles his thanks for the warning, heading off to his office to check his lists for the shift. 

Before he can get back there Kreese bursts through the doors from the dining room. He grabs a raw steak from a marinade and grips it in his meaty fist. 

“Jimmy, this ISN’T the marinade for the fucking New York Strip you fucking idiot!!” As Johnny turns around to greet his volcano of a boss and try to get the pressure off of Jimmy, the cold wet steak hits him square in the chest. 

Right in the middle of his crisp white chef’s coat. The cold marinade drips onto the floor and his shoes. The rest of the guys just stare in horror for a moment before quickly averting their eyes back to their station. Kreese storms up to get in Johnny’s face, rage practically radiating off of him. 

“You better do something about your team Lawrence, before I DO!” He shoves him out of the way to head back towards the dining room to unleash some kind of hell on the wait staff. Johnny sighs and picks at the wetness of his coat and undershirt. _Gross_. 

“Look guys, lets just avoid anymore of whatever that was, ok?” He deems that good enough and goes to his office to change. 

After tossing the shirt and soiled coat in the corner he sits at his desk to dig out his black chef coat out of the drawer. This wasn’t the first piece of raw meat Kreese has ‘served’ him. 

Before he can head out to oversee service and cook, his cellphone rings. 

“Mr. Lawrence, this is Maria Brandt from child protective services. I’d like to have a conversation with you about taking custody of your son. His mother is currently unreachable and we have an opened case against her.”

_Oh shit._ That makes things a little more complicated. 


	2. Jaccart

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Johnny runs into Daniel at the restaurant supply store. The nightmare continues.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for all the lovely comments!! I’m currently working on ch 3. Enjoy Johnny’s nightmare of a day! XD

_Jaccart_ (v.) – To pierce a piece of meat with a needle to tenderize it.

Robby moving into the apartment was a big adjustment, his mom always had full custody so they had to learn to live together from scratch. Johnny felt useless around his own son, they didn’t really know each other and that was his fault. However, he does want to step up for him now. 

No matter how frustrating or weird the first few weeks would be, he was determined. The first few days they set up Robby’s new room and got him some furniture. 

After that he tried to give the boy enough space to get situated. They didn’t really talk much about his mother or why she just left. Johnny thought it was for the best to wait for when Robby wanted to talk about it. He was furious about it, he needed to make sure that he did better for him. He didn’t let on how he felt about it. 

Even though his shifts are long and he doesn’t see Robby too much during the day, it’s nice when they finally get to sit down and talk about whatever he is up to at school. Even though sometimes they get frustrated and argue about small things, he seemed to be settling in. 

On his day off Johnny decides to go to the restaurant supply store for some things for work and a new food processor, since he recently broke his in frustration. 

He normally enjoys the supply store because who doesn’t like shiny new kitchen equipment? A man likes to dream. Guilty pleasures and all that. However today he is greeted with a lifesize cutout of Daniel LaRusso advertising expensive pots and pans. 

_Fucking LaRusso_. 

He was used to seeing his stuff for sale but this was just a nail in the coffin of grief at this point. Even the supply store was rubbing it in. He tries his best to ignore it and pushes his cart over to the food processors. Most of them are way out of his price range. He has his eye on a Breville that was probably $300 too much, but it’s really nice. 

As he is distracted a familiar voice rings out from the other side of the store. 

“Johnny?! Johnny Lawrence?” The footsteps approach and Johnny turns to face his nightmare in real life, Daniel LaRusso in the flesh grinning ear to ear. Dressed in a finely tailored suit, hair perfectly coiffed. Just like in the stupid cardboard cut out. 

Johnny in the other hand was unshaven in a wrinkled old band T-shirt and worn out paint stained jeans. Lovely. 

“I knew it was you even from across the store! Look at you, still have those golden locks.” He laughs and pulls Johnny in for a hug, which makes him stiffen mostly in confusion. He didn’t expect this strangely warm welcome. 

“Yeah uh, it’s been a while.” Johnny felt stupid saying that but what was he suppose to say?

“So you come here often?” Daniel says with a laugh. He didn’t seem to care how awkward Johnny was being. If anything he seemed strangely excited to see him. It put him off gaurd. “I hear you are still at Cobra Roi, you shopping for shift?”

“Oh yeah, but I broke my food processor. Looking for a new one.” He says as he tries to look over the Breville one more time to talk himself out of it. “Heard you have a new restaurant opening soon. Congratulations.”

“Oh thanks, I will be glad when it’s finally all set up, that’s the worst part.” Daniel says with a tired sigh. 

“Hmn- yeah sounds annoying.” Johnny wasn’t trying to be rude, he was trying to not be jealous. It also was the first time he had seen Daniel in person in a long time. He felt like he didn’t know what to do with himself. 

He had to admit, Daniel looked good. He looks healthy and still has that warm mischievous look in his eye. Seeing him seemingly happy to see Johnny of all people, was different. He still had a smile like sunshine. Completely in his personal space. It was frustrating.

“So what else have you been up too?” Daniel asks while leaning against the shelf near the food processors. 

“You know cooking for ungrateful people with money for a tyrant.” Same thing as always Johnny thinks to himself. 

Something about his response made Daniel’s mood shift a little, eyes softening sadly. He can feel the man watching his expression with those big doe eyes. Like he could see through Johnny’s soul. It made him uncomfortable. 

“Maybe it’s time for a change then?” Daniel offers gently. It makes Johnny laugh. 

“I doubt I can find someone to pay me as good. Besides I have custody of my son now, have to think about him.” Johnny says plainly. 

“Of course, that’s the most important.” Daniel seems to be trying to read something on Johnny, but he can’t tell what. He only seems to relent for the moment when his phone rings. 

“Look Johnny it’s really nice to see you, have a good one ok? See you around sometime!” Daniel gives his arm a pat and head away to take his call. 

Johnny just stands there in shock for a moment, what in the world just happened? Daniel LaRusso blew in like a whirlwind and left Johnny a confused mess. 

The confusion continues when he goes to check out after picking up the new containers and lids for the walk-in freezer. The lady hands him a box and says that his order was taken care of. The box was the brand new Breville food processor, the most expensive one. Daniel LaRusso paid for all of it before he left. 

What in the hell was that about?

Even in the seat of the car the food processor taunts him. Who spends that much money on a guy you haven’t seen in thirty years? Even if he is rich, it seems odd. He is half tempted to drive it back to Miyagi ramen and Sushi and tell Daniel he can’t accept it. 

Instead he leaves the box on the kitchen counter in the apartment, forcing himself to face it whenever he went to the kitchen. It was like a terrible riddle he didn’t understand. All he can think about is the way Daniel’s face lit up when he saw him. 

This all has to be some form of divine punishment. 

* * *

  
  


Daniel was busy working on getting the new restaurant set up and ready for opening day. However all he can seem to think about after the day at the supply store, is Johnny Lawrence. 

He was shocked the man still worked for Kreese. Even after all these years. He always imagined Johnny would have left and made his own restaurant. It was kind of heartbreaking to see such an amazing chef beaten down by an insane man. 

The same chef that choked Johnny after loosing in 1984 in the parking lot. Over his ‘reputation.’ Daniel has no respect for Kreese. He was the type of cold blooded business man that Daniel really despised. 

As days pass Daniel notices more and more when Johnny’s car was in the Cobra Roi parking lot. Finally his curiosity gets the best of him, one lunch service he knows Johnny is one of the only people cooking(thanks to an insider tip), he puts in a to-go order. To not be suspicious, he sends one of his staff to retrieve the food. 

He is a little embarrassed he ordered in secret, but he is truly curious in what Johnny cooks like now. 

Rack of lamb with braised asparagus and chanterelles, lobster bisque, and a Cajun shrimp and mushroom risotto. 

Even in the to-go container, it all looks picturesque. The lamb is cooked perfectly rare, you can smell the spices and the colors are bright and inviting. Really it’s the most luxurious lunch he has had in a long time. 

Then he finally starts to eat. The depth of flavor he gets out of the meat and vegetables is vibrant and tantalizing. Every bite is just as enjoyable as the last. The bisque is silky, it has a very comforting home style feel to it. The more he eats the more he is kind of blown away. 

This makes Daniel remember why Johnny was so important to beat in 1984. To Daniel, Johnny was already a real chef, beating him meant that he was one too. Johnny was an amazing chef with a good palate, he was just a weird kid from Jersey who had a really good teacher. He wasn’t a real chef until he proved that he was good enough. 

He hadn’t really ever thought of it that way, but Johnny really did make him feel like a real chef. Competing at his level gave Daniel the confidence to go through with some of his scariest dreams. He always imagined the boy would excel and end up a name in French cuisine. 

Now Johnny just seems broken. Daniel always knew he would probably see him again, but it wasn’t what he expected. The cocky brilliant young chef was another beaten down man on the line now. He wasn’t sure how to feel about it. 

He just knew that at the moment Johnny was living rent free in Daniel’s mind. 

* * *

  
  


Back at Johnny’s apartment he winds down with a beer, it was a long shift and he was exhausted. Kreese was still in a mood and was expecting them to turn out perfect plates. At the moment he is tying to think about anything but work or LaRusso. 

Robbie eventually wanders out of his room to greet his dad, sitting on the other side of the couch and playing with his phone. 

“Hey dad, do you think you could help me get a job at Cobra Roi?”

Johnny was suddenly struck with the memory of getting hit with a raw wet steak and tenses up. “Oh no way kid. That isn’t a cakewalk job.”

“Kids from my school bus tables there...” Robbie interjects 

Yeah and those kids get yelled at and abused by Kreese just as hard as the full grown men in the kitchen. Hell, he has his own terrible memories of being a kid working for John Kreese. The idea of having to hold back on Kreese while the man yelled at his son, wasn’t his idea of a easy shift. He wasn’t so sure that he would be able to resist causing a scene. 

“Hell no, you aren’t anywhere near ready for that kind of job.” Johnny says plainly. Hoping it would end the conversation. 

This sets off Robbie. He stands up, gripping his phone in his fist white-knuckled. “Oh yeah because I’m not a fucking fancy chef.”

“Wait a minute-“ 

“No fuck you old man.” Robbie storms off to his room and slams the door, locking it behind him. 

Shit. That went horribly. Johnny sits there in the wake of his son’s rage in shock. He lets out a groan and puts his face in his hands. Why was everything happening at once? 

He elects to finish the last few beers in the fridge, hoping it would numb his shame. There had to be someway he could figure out to communicate better with his own kid, but he spent more time with dead pieces of meat than real people. 

He falls asleep with his brain full of regret. For a lot of things: not being better to Robbie, being stuck where he is, and not being brave enough to get away from the hell hole he worked for. 

  
The last thing he thinks about before falling asleep is Daniel’s gentle voice saying ‘maybe it’s time for a change.’  



	3. Emulsion

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Robbie starts a job at Miyagi sushi and ramen. Johnny has a mild crisis...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The next chapter we finally get into Daniel and Johnny bonding a little!! Hope you guys enjoy this mess of a chapter!

_Emulsion_ (n.): The mixture of one liquid with another with which it cannot normally combine smoothly (such as oil and water). 

  
  
Late into a day of painting walls and putting together tables, Daniel finally takes a break to look over his notes on the new menu. He had been waffling back and fourth on certain dishes, he should have had this nailed by now. 

The font door opens and a young man peeks in, looking around with quite a nervous look on his face. “Uh... excuse me, your sign said you are hiring?” 

Daniel gives him a smile and waves him inside. “Come on in, sorry things are kind of a mess. Let me get you an application and we can talk.”

He gestures to the table he was at and headed back to his office (rather the piles of files he hasn’t put away yet) to grab an application and a pen. When he returns the boy is sitting and looking around the mess Daniel has made in the past day. He swears it’s progress. 

“So my name is Daniel LaRusso, nice to meet you. I’d shake your hand but I am gross from remodeling.” He says with a chuckle. 

“I’m Robbie Keene.” 

“So why a job at a Japanese restaurant?” Daniel tries to break the ice a little, he seemed nervous out of his skin. 

“I kinda have a interest in cooking, I also really like Japanese food. And horror movies.” He says with a smile, it seemed to make him ease up a bit. But he still picks at the sleeve of his hoodie. 

“So you would want to train to be in the kitchen?” Daniel actually thinks the young man seems genuine. It was pretty rare a kid walks in for a waitstaff job that wanted to cook. 

“I mean, I don’t have any experience. I’d be fine bussing tables. I just like to learn about the food.” He seems discouraged with the idea of being trained or rather he thought he couldn’t. 

“We don’t open for a few weeks, you could start learning now if you wanted too.” There were plenty of things he could teach Robbie to do in the kitchen in a few weeks that would make hiring people on the line a lot simpler. Seeing how he had yet to hire, well anyone. 

Daniel wanted to open another smaller restaurant to bring traditional Japanese food to the valley, but also to teach other people about Japanese food. Teaching people on tv wasn’t the same as teaching someone in person. If Robbie wanted to learn, he should. 

Robbie looks shocked, it takes him a minute to get his thoughts together. “Wait, are you serious? You want to teach me how to cook here?”

“You said you wanted to learn about the food. What do you say?” 

“Holy shit yes! I mean, yes sir.” 

Robbie’s enthusiasm was pretty infectious, Daniel laughs and pats him on the shoulder. “Welcome aboard then Mr. Keene.”  
  


* * *

  
Every day after school Robby comes into Miyagi ramen and sushi to help with the remodel and learn some cooking skills. He had a great work ethic and was an inquisitive student. The company actually kept Daniel on task, since he seemed to have been dragging his feet since he got into town. 

Robbie turns out to actually be quite the natural. He had good knife skills and absorbed facts like a sponge. Daniel thought he was a joy to teach, he never failed to get just as excited as Robbie when he got a new task right. 

He even lets Robbie help with the new menu, they cook together to test the recipes. Robbie keeps notes and makes sure to ask as many questions as he can. Daniel insisting there weren’t any dumb questions early on. Besides, how could he say no to a kid that really seemed to enjoy cooking Japanese food. 

Most of all Daniel remembered why he really liked teaching people about food. It brought back some really wonderful memories of learning from Mr. Miyagi. He always loved passing on his knowledge, it felt like the most fitting tribute to the man he considered his father. 

He moved back to the valley after the divorce, feeling pretty disconnected and lost. Hence all of the feet dragging. Now he remembers why this restaurant was so important, to connect with real people again. 

As nice as food fame was, it was also mentally and physically exhausting. He use to travel 300 days out of the year, filming several shows at once, cooking for very rich clients in their homes, and pretending that he was perfect all of the time. Until things in his personal life started to fall apart. He was far from perfect behind the lights and makeup. 

He couldn’t fix his differences with Amanda and decided it was time for things to change. So he wanted to make the traditional Japanese restaurant in the valley that Mr. Miyagi always dreamed of. 

Once he got here and started the remodel, he started to doubt his decisions. Like he really wasn’t anything without a team of professional food talent specialist behind him. 

But the way Robbie’s eyes light up every time he nails a new skill, he starts to believe this was the right choice after all. 

* * *

  
Johnny’s week was a a long chain of rough shifts. Kreese was still in a rank mood over the new competition that is about to open. It’s getting to the point where he is expecting at least three blow ups a day. If you only got two, it was a good day. 

Finally he has a shift that doesn’t last until the dead of night and has time to clean up the apartment. Two guys in a small space made for piles of laundry and dishes that seemed never ending. After a couple of beers he gets to work. 

He loads the dishwasher and lets it run, cleaning the counters and giving the floor a sweep for good measure. His kid lives here now so he couldn’t be a total slob. 

Once the kitchen is sufficiently tidied he makes sure to ignore the box containing the food processor, that still sits right were it was the day he brought it home. He didn’t have the energy to deal with that at the moment. 

After getting all of his own laundry together he goes to get the basket out of Robbie’s room. On the bed he notices a book on Japanese food and a notebook full of notes. He turns the book over to see who it was written by: Miyagi. On top of his laundry was a uniform shirt for Miyagi ramen and sushi.   
  


_Are you fucking KIDDING me?!_

He felt like he was about to have an aneurism, his own son working for Daniel fucking LaRusso. This was just the lowest blow he could think of. Instead of learning to cook from his own father he asked LaRusso? 

Once Robbie gets home he sees the cookbook and the Miyagi sushi and ramen shirt on the coffee table, with Johnny sitting on the couch absolutely stewing. 

“You wanna explain this?” Johnny points to the items. 

“Ain’t nothing to explain. You didn’t help be get a job, so I got on by myself.” Robbie didn’t seem amused with Johnny’s mood or the fact he was snooping around his things. 

“So you won’t let me teach you to cook but now LaRusso of all people is teaching you?!” At this point he just feel like this is one big way to get back at him for being a bad father. 

“You never asked me to learn to cook!!” Robbie practically screams back at him. “At least a REAL chef is teaching me!”

“You don’t even want to learn to cook real food!” The second the words leave Johnny’s mouth he realizes he probably went too far. Robbie’s eyes well up and the grabs the book and shirt off of the table, shoving them into his book bag. 

Robbie shuts down, the conversation was over, he grabs a few things out of his room and leaves right out of the front door. 

_Fuck_. 

If Johnny wanted to communicate better, he wasn’t doing very good at it. He drops back on the couch and groans in defeat. 

* * *

  
  
Daniel is at Miyagi waiting for the last of the equipment he ordered to be delivered. Going through some paperwork with a cup of green tea. His peace is disrupted by Robby coming through the door, he wasn’t suppose to be here until tomorrow. The boy is also sobbing his eyes out, causing Daniel alarm. 

He goes over to brace the boy’s shoulders. “Hey, hey- Robbie what’s wrong?” He is visibly distressed to the point where he probably shouldn’t have been riding a bike here. He leads the boy over to sit down, pouring him some tea and rubbing his back to try and calm him down. 

“My dad is a total a-asshole!! He’s a fucking head chef at Cobra Roi and he doesn’t want me to learn here.” Robbie lets go of a hiccuping sob. “He said this wasn’t even real food.” 

Head chef... fucking hell. Robbie was Johnny Lawrence’s son. He is suddenly furious. That giant asshole doesn’t want Robbie to learn about Japanese food because of Daniel. That was the most petty shit he had ever heard. 

“Robbie, look I think I need to have a serious talk with your dad.” He passes the boy a napkin so he can blow his nose.   
  
“I don’t know what that will do...” he hasn’t ever seen Robbie so defeated, it just makes Daniel want to comfort him like his own kids. 

“It will straighten him out hopefully.” Daniel grabs his keys. “Come on, show me where you live, let’s go fix this.”

At this point he has a bunch of choice words for Johnny Lawrence. 

* * *

  
Johnny tried to call Robbie over and over, his bike is gone and he hadn’t come back. He is starting to worry himself sick. He really fucked up this time. 

There is a knock on his door and he jumps up hoping it’s Robbie. However, he finds LaRusso glaring at him from behind the door instead. He didn’t feel like whatever this was so he tries to slam the door on him, only to be stopped by Daniel’s foot in the doorframe. 

“We need to talk. Now.” Daniel sounds cross. 

“Look, I don’t have time for this my kid is-“

“Your kid is in my car crying his eyes out because his dad was an asshole.”

Johnny grits his teeth and balls up his fists. The last thing he wanted at the moment was to get lectured by LaRusso. 

“You need to fucking grow up Lawrence! That kid loves food, just like you or I did. You should be invested in his education. Not focused on some stupid rivalry that was thirty years ago!” Johnny opens his mouth to defend himself but is stopped by Daniel immediately. “Your kid is fucking talented. It shouldn’t matter how he gets into cooking, but that it makes him happy.”

Johnny feels like a scolded dog in the wake of Daniel’s rage. Standing tense as he takes the lashing. 

“I think it sucks that you let Kreese’s shitty elitism ruin how you feel about other food. Like you think everything else has no value.” Daniel spits out coldly. 

“I have no plans of quitting on that kid. So straighten yourself out Lawrence.” Daniel leaves with a steely glare. “Robbie will stay at my house. He will see you tomorrow.”

Leaving Johnny in the wake of a shitload of truths and shame. Daniel was completely right and that stung. He wasn’t acting any better that Kreese. Worst of all towards his own son. 

Exactly what he was trying to protect him from in the first place. 

French cuisine wasn’t suppose to be the end all, he use to have dreams of seeing the world to learn about food. Now he was no better than Kreese. A mean old bastard in a kitchen. He really feels the weight of his failures in that moment. No one to blame, but himself. 

He has to make this right.   
Even if it means swallowing his pride. 

* * *

  
  
The next day Johnny calls off from work, even if it makes Kreese pissed, this was more important. This morning was a very different drive to the hills, he feels like there is a black cloud of worry around his head. 

He parks the firebird in the Miyagi lot and stares at the building like it would bite. Daniel’s very nice Escalade was in the parking lot so he knows that they are here. 

He could do this. 

After a few deep breaths and internally psyching himself up, he enters the restaurant. It seems to be coming together rather nicely. A ton of work had been done to give it the air of an old Japanese ramen house. Delicate screens and wood panels create a warm inviting environment. It was a really nice place. 

He sees Robbie peek out to see who it was before disappearing back into the kitchen with fear in his eyes. That fear made Johnny’s heart ache, his own son was scared of his reactions. He really wasn’t better than Kreese. 

Daniel comes out not long after with his arms crossed over his chest. “What do you want?”

Johnny flinches at his tone, he deserved that. He puts up his hands in surrender. “Look I’m not here to argue. I wanted to ask...” he takes a deep breath and swallows the rest of his pride. “If you’d let me learn about Japanese food too.”

Daniel seems confused for a minute, doe eyes searching Johnny’s face to try and read if he was being truthful. 

“You were right, I was an asshole. Robbie should learn however he can and French cooking isn’t everything.” Johnny felt vulnerable talking to Daniel like this. He wasn’t use to admitting that he was wrong, but this was for his son. 

Daniel seems to be working something out in his head, it makes Johnny feel completely on edge. He has no idea what he is thinking, the minutes feel like an eternity. 

“Wash your hands. We are working on tonkatsu.” Daniel doesn’t even look back as he heads towards the kitchen. 

Even though his reception was a cold(understandably), he felt like it was a little victory. He follows Daniel back into the kitchen hoping that this could bring him and Robbie together. 

Maybe it really was time for a change...


	4. Omakase

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Daniel bonds with Robbie and Johnny learns to cook tonkatsu.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you guys for all the support!! It really means a lot!
> 
> The boys actually have a day that isn’t horrible. But Kreese has been pretty quiet... WHATS he up too? Maybe we will see a bit of it next chapter after the boys have a dinner date(?)

_Omakase_ (n.) – Phrase meaning “I’ll leave it to you,” allowing the chef to choose the fish you’re served at a sushi restaurant. 

Daniel left Johnny’s house literally feeling like he was on fire, hoping that some of his words stuck. By the time he gets to his car and sees the miserable look on Robbie’s face, all the fight drains out of his body. He just wanted to make the boy feel better. 

He gets in the car and pats Robbie on the back. “Hey, you aren’t going to quit and neither will I. You can go back home tomorrow and let your dad cool off. I can show you Mr. Miyagi’s house.” 

That seems to help a bit, Robbie gives Daniel a watery smile and nods. He is a feeling he hasn’t had many people to stand up for him, he could relate to that. 

“Now how do you feel about a big greasy pizza and some hot wings? I’m starving and have no personal trainer to answer too.”

That finally got a little laugh out of him, it also makes Daniel feel much better. After figuring out what they want from the old pizza place, he calls to put the order in. Poor Robbie still looks exhausted from crying and a little sad, he hopes maybe some carbs and cheese would help a little bit. 

After they pick up their dinner they head towards Mr. Miyagi’s old home. Daniel parks in the back so he can take Robbie through the garden. He looks over to find the boy practically with his face pressed against the window looking at the 1948 Ford Super De Luxe. 

He remembers staring at it similarly the first time he saw it. “He gave me that car before I even had a license.” Daniel says with a laugh. It was a good memory, this place brings back a lot of good memories. It was the best part about being back. 

Robbie whips his head around in disbelief. “Wait he what?”

Daniel laughs, “Oh, don’t worry he didn’t have one either.” Robbie looks confused for a second before he was laughing too. It was good to see his smile back. 

They get out of the car and head through the gate to the garden. The second Robbie gets a look around he is gaping at the scenery. “Woah... this looks like a painting. This is your house now?”

Daniel nods, seeing how that was an actual fact now and this wasn’t just a property he visited. Really he liked it better than any fancy high rise he was in or the house he shared with Amanda they spent no time in. This place actually felt like home. There was a difference. 

After wandering around a little bit to let Robbie look at everything he heads inside to put the food on the kotatsu. Robbie comes inside not too long after, still looking around the house before he sits down. “This place is amazing.”

“I have a lot of good memories here.” He hopes that he can make some more once things turn around a little. Good things take time, at least that’s what Mr. Miyagi use to say. Daniel however, could be infamously impatient. 

They are quiet for a while while they tuck into their satisfyingly greasy dinner. Daniel still is kind of shocked that this sweet shy kid was Johnny Lawrence’s son, of all people. Johnny who is all hard edges and attitude. “So how long have you lived with your dad? You said you were new in town.”

Robbie looks distant at the question. “I dunno like a month.” He shrugs. “He didn’t ever have custody. Then mom ran off with her boyfriend.” He continues to eat, like trying to get away from the subject. 

Daniel gapes. A month. No wonder they had no idea how to talk. They were complete strangers. He also had no idea about his mother. He was hurt for him. 

“I’m sorry, that’s got to be really hard. If you ever want to talk about it, I’m here.” He didn’t expect that to be now, fresh wounds and teenagers, but he felt like he should feel like someone was on his side. 

Robbie stares at the piece of pizza in his hand for a minute, like he had to process the information. Like someone extending help was new. “Thanks.”

Daniel lets that be the last of the heavy conversation. He had a hard enough day. Now comes the fun part. “Want to see the kitchen?”

That instantly makes the boy perk up a bit, finally giving another smile. “Hell yes!”

Daniel leads him through a brocade noren curtain embroidered with a bonsai tree. The kitchen is arguably the best place in the house, Mr. Miyagi set it up exactly like he did in Okinawa. Daniel spent a ton of money keeping the vintage cooktops and fixtures working, it was still his favorite place in the world to cook. 

It has a large butcher block island in the center of the horseshoe shaped kitchen. Miyagi handmade that counter himself. The first thing Daniel ever got to do in this kitchen was learn how to oil and treat the cutting board island. He found it obnoxious. Now it’s a nice memory that makes him laugh. 

Then his wife found it obnoxious when he did it religiously. She didn’t really ever understand what this house meant to him or why it was so important. But he was also pretty bad at explaining it. At the time it felt like arguing for arguing’s sake, not a deeper problem. 

Robbie is like a kid in a candy store, pointing out things he had seen in the book he borrowed excitedly. They spend about two hours looking around and talking about what everything is. Sometimes leading to a funny story or weird memory that makes them both laugh. 

Really, Daniel probably needed this as much as Robbie did. His own kids had heard these things a thousand times and it didn’t mean much because ‘we know dad.’ They also didn’t have any interest in cooking, so they didn’t understand why an old handmade knife was probably the most valuable thing Daniel owns. 

Robbie did get it, he also remembered some of the stories from Miyagi’s book. It was nice to have someone to share these memories with. Being in this house alone and doing the renovations was a lot. It felt like square one. This made the house feel lighter again. 

Thankfully tomorrow is Saturday so he lets Robbie stay up for a while. They wander through the house until he can tell the boy is exhausted. After promising they can see more tomorrow he puts him in the guest bedroom, lending him some sweat pants and a shirt. 

Daniel finally puts up the food and gets ready for bed. The new normal wasn’t going to get better if he didn’t change things. So he hopes this means he is making the right choices.   
  
  


* * *

  
Daniel lets them sleep in because he is his own boss and he said so. There had to be some kind of perk in that, right? Once he gets up he gets straight to breakfast. 

By the time the bacon and coffee is done, Robby comes stumbling in half awake with his hair sticking up in every direction. “What time is it?”

Daniel looks at the clock. “11.” 

Robbie just laughs, “I live with a crazy man who gets up at 5am to work out.”

Daniel actually cracks up, the idea of Johnny Lawrence getting up at 5am disturbing the whole floor of the apartment complex to work out was hilarious. “Fuck That!”

Robbie practically laughs until he cries. He tells him all about his network approved dietitian and personal trainer that he despised. He didn’t understand someone policing what he ate... he cooked for a living. It gave him weird body issues, as well as made him hungry and grumpy. 

Once they settle down he teaches Robbie how to make omurice omelettes, they are fun and gooey(his own kids favorites). They eat bacon off of the tray it’s sitting on while they cook. 

“Ew you know dad does ‘meal prep’ so he cooks everything on Sunday and then we heat everything up all week.” Robbie stares at him very seriously. “You ever eaten 6 day old microwaved bacon? It’s sad shit man.”

Daniel lets his horror display clearly on his face. “My god... no man with any dignity needs to eat rubbery microwaved bacon out of a Tupperware.” That is reason 452 why Johnny Lawrence is so damned sad. He doesn’t even care about what he eats anymore. 

Even if he is still pissed at him, it’s just sad. He remembers he was jealous of the food he would make for himself in high school. He wonders when the last time he actually cooked for himself was. 

Once they eat and clean up, they get showered and head out to the restaurant. Today they were going to work on the tonkatsu for the menu, they were both going to make three just to see what they come up with. 

Robbie starts setup as soon as they get it, he is actually becoming a really good prep chef. Organized and keeps stations clean. Once the rice is in Daniel get out some of his notes. He doesn’t hear the door, but Robbie comes back with fear in his eyes. 

Ugh. Of course he is here. 

“Stay here, I’ll be back, it’s fine. Keep doing prep like normal.” Daniel gives his shoulders a squeeze and leaves only when Robby nods and goes back to where he was cutting vegetables. 

Daniel walks out and crosses his arms. “What do you want?” He thought of all people Johnny would be at work, he was always there on Saturday. 

“Look I’m not here to argue. I wanted to ask...” he takes a deep breath and puts up his hands. “If you’d let me learn about Japanese food too.”

Daniel kind of can’t compute what he is saying for a moment, Johnny Lawrence walked into his restaurant and asked to learn about Japanese food?

“You were right, I was an asshole. Robbie should learn however he can and French cooking isn’t everything.”

Does he actually remember waking up this morning? Johnny really hadn’t ever been this candid with him and he was shocked. 

Daniel hopes that maybe this will help break the ice between Johnny and Robbie, it didn’t hurt to try. If anything he could just have him leave and watch YouTube videos. 

“Wash your hands. We are working on tonkatsu.” Daniel heads back in to warn Robbie that his dad wanted to sit in on a lesson with him. Robbie scrunches up his face in confusion, Daniel just shrugs and mouths ‘go with it?.’

Robbie rolls his eyes, but eventually mouths ‘ok fine.’ 

* * *

Daniel wasn’t going to lie; he felt insanely awkward teaching a very high end Cobra Roi style chef how to make a fried pork cutlett rice bowl. Robbie seems to be having a nice time trying to figure out how he was going to make his for the test menu. 

Johnny is... too kitchen proper. He only answers in grunts and ‘yes chef’ like they were on the line. Daniel had only worked in one place like that and he hated it. It was awkward because Robbie had an easy relaxed and focused demeanor in the kitchen. Johnny was precise and tense in the kitchen, it was weird. Food wasn’t combat, even if Kreese thought differently 

He does ask questions and watch closely as Daniel demonstrates though. So he guesses that meant it was going alright, he can’t imagine that this was a very interesting thing to cook for him. He ordered off that expensive menu, he saw the fun expensive proteins. 

“Ok. So now that you know the basics.” He puts three raw cutlets in front of Johnny. “You have to make me three different tonkatsu rice bowls different than the one I showed you.”

Robbie has already started, obviously having ideas forming as he works. Johnny actually lets down his tight stance and looks around at all the ingredients and spices like he was lost for a minute. It was the first time he wasn’t acting like a good dinner soldier. Maybe getting out of his comfort zone is good for him. 

Daniel and Robbie finish a little bit before Johnny. They decide to watch him and question his choices as he goes. 

“Uh huh... so that’s the sauce?” Robbie says after smelling a ramakin full of a weirdly thick sauce. 

“Shut up, I haven’t exactly eaten a lot of tonkatsu.” Johnny says with an eye roll. 

“Lawrence your cutlet smells like my grandmother’s chicken parmesan...” Daniel smells it again and genuinely laughs. “How did you achieve that?”

“I’d like to let you know you two are the _worst_ teachers.” 

“Dad you tasted the food! You know what’s in it!” Robbie at this point is bent over squealing laughing and Johnny joins in laughing. 

“Fuck did I really make an Italian seasoned Japanese cutlet?” Johnny laughs so hard he has to wipe his eyes. Honestly, it was the first time he actually seemed a little bit like his old self. The version of Johnny that Daniel remembers.

They take their bowls into the other room to sit down. Taking turns trying them all and making comments. Johnny seems to like a lot more of them than he expected. Robbie finally tries the one that smells like chicken parm and starts laughing. 

“Dad it’s so weird but it kind of works, needs cheese.” Robbie slides the bowl over to Daniel and he also starts to laugh. It actually kind of does work. 

“Ok, now I’m pissed I never thought of that.” Daniel laughs and shoves at Johnny’s shoulder. He was pretending to be mad but not doing a great job of it. 

Really they end up having an alright time. He still thinks Johnny has a lot of work to do and is a complete weirdo in the kitchen; but it is really nice to see Robbie and his dad get along. 

  
  


* * *

  
  


Johnny had been a nervous wreck almost the entire time he was there, but seeing Robbie in the kitchen was actually amazing. Daniel was right, he was talented. They had to tell him twice who cooked what when he was tasting what they made. 

It also was the first time he had cooked with Daniel in a really long time. Daniel is one of those graceful zen chefs that move with purpose, with no ‘soldier cooking on the line’ to be found. Really it was a joy to watch. It was different than he was use too. 

It reminded him of when they were younger and he couldn’t believe that Daniel had been cooking less than a year. A baby face and perfect knife skills, somethings never change. He could see why Robby wanted to learn here. So he decides to relent, this was obviously something that made Robbie happy. 

Hell, there was a time cooking made him happy too. It feels like a thousand years from then, now. Now it was just livelihood more than anything. He had more fun today, nervous out of his mind, than he had in years in a kitchen. 

He liked trying something he hadn’t ever cooked before, but he really liked being able to cook with his son. It felt like maybe they would have some kind of even ground to talk now. At least that’s the hope. 

He just had to work on all the shit that makes him act like his wretched boss. That wasn’t the kind of kitchen experience or parenting experience Robbie should have. He knew that wasn’t going to be easy and wasn’t sure where to start. 

“Look, thanks for letting me stick around, it was really nice to cook with Robbie.” Johnny finally tells Daniel when Robby is cleaning up. “It was also nice to see you cook again.”

“It was Robbie’s call if you stayed or not you know.” Daniel says with a smile, “You should come over to my place with Robbie on your next day off. We can cook dinner.”

Really he is kind of shocked by the offer, but he appreciates a chance to hopefully move on positively with his son. “I’d like that.”

Before he can do anything Daniel reaches reaches over to grab his phone out of the breast pocket of his flannel. Typing out his contact info and putting it back. Johnny just kind of watches in shock. Since when did Daniel get so familiar?

He can’t even formulate the words so he can ask what that was, Robbie comes out from the kitchen. “All done and everything shut off.” He comes around to give Daniel a hug. “Thanks Mr. LaRusso.” 

“Thanks for your hard work.” He gives Robbie a hug back. “This week I was thinking you and Your dad could come over and cook in the big kitchen.”

Robbie seems pretty excited about that, not that he knows anything about LaRusso’s fancy kitchen. So it sounded like an alright way to spend a night. 

“I’ll bring beer.”


	5. Victual

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Johnny starts to train Miguel Diaz at Cobra Roi. Goes to the international grocery story with Robbie, and cooks at LaRusso’s House. But what is Kreese up too?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What is Kreese up too? Tell me what you guys think so far! HAVE SOME DAD FEELSS

_Victual_ (n.) - any food or provisions for humans; all food is a "victual"

Every morning before lunch service John Kreese stands at the side door of Cobra Roi to smoke a cigar. There was something minor that was different and caught his attention. The familiar old beat up red firebird stopping in front of Miyagi ramen and sushi. 

The passenger door opens up and Johnny’s son goes into the restaurant for a minute. He runs out to hand Johnny something through the window and waves him goodbye. Returning inside afterwards. 

Rage sets in rather immediately. 

LaRusso thinks that he can steal Kreese’s best chef. 

Before Johnny makes it down the street, Kreese stubs out his cigar and heads back inside. He knew of one person that could deal with LaRusso. 

He needed to make a call. 

* * *

Johnny drops Robbie off at Miyagi sushi and ramen, making sure to wish him a good day. After their lesson with LaRusso the boy had been in a much better mood at home. They actually talk now, that was real progress. 

He would have to think of a good way to thank Daniel.   
  
Then before he can pull out to head to work, Robbie runs back outside and hands him a little box through the window. 

“Mr. LaRusso made us bento lunches so we can try new Japanese food! Have a good day dad!” Before he can even get a word out Robbie is gone. He looks down at the box and is kind of dumbstruck. 

It made sense for LaRusso to make something for his kid, but him too? He gets a similar feeling he gets from the box with the food processor (he has still yet to touch). Was this just a weird way to show off? Even if it was he was completely fine with a fancy fresh lunch. 

Once he gets into work he can tell that something is off about Kreese. He is quiet and watching everyone like a hawk. Bobby and Dutch speculate, but no one has definitive answers so they try to ignore him and keep prepping for lunch service. 

While they are prepping one of the busboys, Diaz he thinks, keeps checking out what everyone is up too. It isn’t his first time snooping around the kitchen or asking them questions about what they are doing. It’s the first time he really notices it though. 

Once service starts Johnny is cooking a steak when he remembers he didn’t thank LaRusso for his lunch. He pulls out his phone and one handedly texts him. 

Johnny: hey thanks for my fancy lunch  
Daniel: I thought you and Robbie could try some new dishes.   
Johnny: thanks even more for being so nice to Robbie.   
Daniel: he is a good kid. 

Johnny doesn’t even notice that he is smiling at his phone, using one hand to flip the steak in the pan when his internal timer goes off. 

“Woah!! Nice, so how do you know the steak is right if you are busy texting a girl?” Diaz interjects, Johnny didn’t even realize he was being watched. He ignores his latter comment. 

Johnny rolls his eyes and puts up a finger for ten more seconds, afterwards he puts the steak on a rack to rest. “Look kid, I’ve cooked a few steaks in my time, it’s all about timing. And that’s all up here.” He points to his head and chucks a pair of latex gloves at him. “Put those on.”

“Press on the steak with one finger.” Diaz complies and looks back at Johnny with confusion. “Now tell me what temperature it’s cooked at.”

“Man, I’m not a steak operator.” He says with an eye roll. 

Johnny laughs and holds out his hand. “Look I’ll how you how to tell. When your hand is flat and you press on that meat below your thumb, that’s what a raw steak feels like.”

He presses his thumb and pinky together and presses in the same spot. “That’s well-done, meaning: feed it to the dog or throw it away.” Diaz snickers and follows along with a furrowed brow as if he is concentrating. 

Ring finger and thumb pressed together mean medium. Middle finger and thumb is medium rare. Finally the ‘ok’ hand sign is rare. Diaz does it a few times to rest the different temps again. 

“Ok kid, now what temp is that steak.” Johnny says with a raised brow. 

“Rare.” He declares confidently, he didn’t check the steak again. 

“Damn kid good job!” He gives his shoulder a pat. 

Seeing him light up at getting it right reminded him about how happy Robbie looked learning under LaRusso. He remembers being that excited about food, it seemed like a lifetime ago now. 

By the third steak he is teaching Miguel (he learned) about the cuts of meat on the lunch menu. How long they cook for, what the marinade has in it, what part of the animal it is, whatever he can think of in the moment. 

Diaz asks a ton of questions, shockingly get didn’t mind answering him. It was actually a great distraction from work. He still rushes out to clear tables every now and then, but is right back when he is done. 

Before lunch service is done he has Diaz trying to flip a little notebook in a clean pan. He watches how Johnny does it and tries a couple of times, most of them ending with the notebook on the floor. 

“No no, come on it’s all in the wrist. Flip with purpose!” Johnny shows him one more time and Diaz successfully flips the notebook. 

They both cheer and he shakes the kids shoulders excitedly. “Hell yeah! You might be a natural Diaz!”

  
After lunch service, he takes a break before he needs to prep for dinner service. That was the fastest a lunch service has gone in a long time. He decides to eat his fancy lunch in his car. 

To be honest, he is glad he did because he opens the lid to literally find a work of art in a box. He is flabbergasted. It is honestly beautiful, vibrantly colorful and decadent looking. Hell, he even takes a picture of it before he eats. He never does that. 

He enjoys every separate element of the box. Fresh slices of very expensive fish rolled into little flower blossoms. Some kind of sweet egg thing that Johnny is obsessed with. There is a cold soba noodle on the bottom that is savory and satisfying. 

There was even an index card (that he hand wrote) what everything was in the lid. LaRusso really went out of his way for Robbie and Johnny. He really didn’t know how to feel about it. He wasn’t use to people being actively kind in such a way. Johnny is however happy that someone is being so kind to Robby. He deserves that. 

But why was he being so nice to Johnny? He literally had no reason too. 

Before he head back to work he makes sure to text Daniel and thank him again, that it was actually amazing. 

Once he gets back into the kitchen he has Diaz help prep for dinner service. Mostly just cutting vegetables. He keeps thinking about LaRusso and his mysterious kindness. He also thinks about what he said about change. He looks over at Diaz cutting vegetables and gives it a serious thought for a minute.   
  


“Hey kid, you wanna learn how to cook?”

  
  


* * *

  
  
Daniel and Robbie have a good day. They finish putting up some light fixtures and do some minor decorating with some noren and a few Edo era Ukiyo-e prints that Daniel was really proud of. 

He texts back and fourth with Johnny a little bit, he has to admit that it makes him pretty happy that he enjoyed his lunch. They deserved better food than a sad microwaved chicken breast. Doing things like that for Robbie was natural, he was like his own kids now. 

Doing things for Johnny was more of Daniel testing the waters. He was excited to see him the first time, it had been so long. Really it stirred up emotions from when he was younger. Johnny was the first guy he was really into, even though they were at each other’s throats. 

He has probably thought about Johnny way more than he should lately. It was amazing to see him cook with Robbie. Daniel knows that he can be a good dad if he tries. 

Johnny was actually nice to be around, especially when he let down his walls. If Robbie was going to be around, it would be nice if Johnny was too. For Robbie and himself. 

Once they are done with the remodel for the afternoon they sit down to look over catalogues of flatware. Having Robbie help with some of the decision making actually made it not like pulling teeth for Daniel. He also liked that Robbie got excited every time they used his ideas. 

“So why aren’t you and your dad closer?” Daniel asks gently. He knows that he didn’t have custody, but it still confounded him. 

“Mom made it real clear she didn’t want that ‘dirtbag’ in my life.” Robbie says plainly, still flipping through a catalogue circling stuff to look at again later. 

That made Daniel’s stomach hurt. He hadn’t realized that they had such a bad relationship that she wouldn’t want Johnny in their own son’s life. He couldn’t imagine being kept away from his kids. It really was important that Johnny was able to get close to Robbie, he didn’t have anyone now. 

“I don’t hate dad... I just wish he was around more y’know? Not just birthdays or holidays.” Robbie sounded so hurt. Daniel reaches out to give his shoulder a squeeze. He wanted to help them have a better relationship. They both deserved that. 

“Hey, if it helps I really think your dad is trying. You are really important to him.”

“How do you know that?”

“Because I’m a dad.”

* * *

  
  


Throughout the week Johnny and Daniel text more and more. It started just with photos of things they have cooked or fancy proteins that impressed them. They complain about things going wrong at work. Talk about parenting and Robbie. They even talk about new recipes they are working on, giving suggestions and advice. Really, it was nice to have someone to talk too that wasn’t at work. 

Johnny isn’t really sure what to think of it, but he seems to lighten up a little when his phone buzzes. Daniel is actually pretty hilarious and always has a quick witty comeback. He even send him pictures of Robbie cooking. 

Eventually they talk about what they are going to cook on Sunday. Daniel sends him tons of links to different recipes and photos of Japanese dishes. He has a pretty good time going through them and reading about what it all is. They make a grocery list and he tells Daniel that him and Robbie will bring what they need. 

Daniel sends him the address of an Asian grocery store where he can get what is on the list. Sounded interesting enough. 

The days Miguel is at Cobra Roi he has him in the kitchen. He learns prep work and how to set up all the stations. By the end of the week Johnny has him making some of the garnishes with Bobby. 

The kid has amazing focus on the line. He also had a good sense for balancing flavor and seasoning. That’s hard to just teach, you kind of just have that naturally. 

It was honestly cool to see him succeed at a new task. He was a good kid and he seemed to be having a good time in the kitchen. Johnny was having a pretty good time teaching him. 

Kreese told him a long time ago he wasn’t made to teach other people because of his terrible personality and attitude, he finds that amazingly ironic coming from Kreese. So he never gave it much thought. Only bothering to train any new hires to function on his line. This was way better than that. He got to help someone really learn to love food. 

Johnny can see why teaching people was important to LaRusso. It made more sense seeing Miguel’s joyous outbursts at cooking something perfectly. 

That used to be them. 

Saturday morning Robbie and Johnny get out early so they can buy everything the need to cook at LaRusso’s. The Asian grocery store is way bigger than Johnny expected, it was pretty fun. 

While they pick up what they need Johnny picks up a ton of stuff he has never seen to try at home. Soup mixes, sauces, really beautiful produce, some interesting bread, stuff with absolutely no English on the label, whatever looked interesting in the moment. Robbie also makes a selection of snack foods and drinks they are going to try.   
  
They spent probably fifteen minutes picking out mushrooms from their wide selection. Then they get to meat and seafood. Ok this place is heaven. Meat of every shape and cut you can imagine, live seafood, seafood he has only seen on television, some of it labeled as ‘fresh off boat’, and all of it isn’t horribly expensive. 

He was going to have to thank Daniel. 

“I can see why you are into Japanese food, this place is pretty amazing.” Johnny tells Robbie as they pick a snack from some of the fresh cooked items. 

“I think it’s really interesting, it’s kinda like art. I think I maybe could be good at it.” Robbie’s response is timid but earnest. It makes Johnny smile. He wraps an arm around his shoulders and gives him a squeeze. 

“You are already good at it kiddo. I had to ask who cooked what a million times the other day, you cook like LaRusso.” That actually gets a genuine smile out of Robbie and he is glad that he let him continue learning. “I use to think that way about French food. I wished I learned more about other cuisine really.”

“You still can dad.”

He actually agreed with him. Most of what stopped him was internal. He had a nice time learning from Daniel. What was stopping him exactly? That was complicated...

The trip to the grocery store with Robbie was really nice, being able to bond a little with him felt good. He can’t help but think that it’s mostly thanks to Daniel that he is getting to bond with him at all. 

It made his day at Cobra Roi go well, even though the dinner rush was full house. Halfway through dinner service he is stuck with a 17 top of a wedding rehearsal party. 

“Diaz! Ready to cook some fish?” He whips his head around from his place at garnish with his eyes wide like an owl.

“Hell yes chef!!” Miguel finishes his garnishes for the table before and dashed over to where Johnny is standing. This was the first time he actually was touching protein during service. And he could tell the kid was excited. 

He hands him a slab of sea bass and tells him how to season it before putting it in the pan. Explains how to spoon the butter over it as it cooks and the times. “Got it?”

Before Miguel can answer Johnny just watches him do exactly like he explained. The kid had seen Dutch cook a million pieces of fish and knew exactly what to do after he said it. 

He stops what he is doing long enough to taste what Miguel finishes, digging in it to check the cook. “Diaz you brilliant little fuck that’s perfect!” He shakes Miguel’s shoulders as the boy punches the air and whoops loudly. 

“YES! Ok now how many for the table!” He was already ready to do what he proved that he could. Really he was an awesome kid. 

“Give me four more of those bad boys and you are with Dutch now kid!” Johnny pats him on the back and goes back to the rest of the plates for that table. The rest of the night Miguel doesn’t get one plate sent back, in fact he got compliments. 

He went home feeling pretty good about the day. Daniel was right. 

Change was good. 

* * *

  
  
Daniel is pretty excited by the time Sunday rolls around, talking to Robbie and Johnny about what they were going to cook was great. He also likes that him and Johnny have been texting more. It makes him feel less lonely around the house with someone to text about nothing. 

Johnny tells him all about how great the grocery store was, sending photos of their bounty of snack foods. While they text, Daniel goes overboard cleaning the depression nest of his home. But it was a satisfying result. 

Johnny and Robbie get there about 5pm. Daniel heads out back to greet them to find Johnny on the ground looking at his yellow ‘47 Super Deluxe, with groceries around his knees. Robbie is Holding way too many bags rolling his eyes. 

“Dad, it’s parked. You can see it later. C’MON!” Robbie abandons his father in favor of freeing his poor arms. 

Daniel laughs and heads over to pick up half of Johnny’s grocery load. “I forget you are too ‘busy’ to ever come see it up close.”

Johnny rolls his eyes and shoves at his leg. “Shut up. I will admit. It is a pretty ole girl LaRusso.” He said wistfully. 

That when he really looks at the old Firebird. It... had seen better days if he was honest. That car was Johnny’s pride and joy. I mean, it’s a cool car. But it’s condition almost was a reflection on Johnny’s condition as a whole. Like it wasn’t well taken care of either out of necessity or something else. 

Daniel tries to shake those thoughts for now, it was going to be a nice night. “Come on, I kept Mr. Miyagi’s Vintage kitchen in working order.”

That actually seems to pique Johnny’s interest away from the car, he gets the other half of the bags. “Wait, what?”

Daniel doesn’t even explain, he just walks down the path through the garden up to the house. Robby yells out from the kitchen ‘FINALLY’ when he hears footsteps. It makes him laugh. 

Robbie is already putting stuff out on the counter to arrange what they need. Daniel comes to join him. It doesn’t take long for Johnny to find the doorway, standing halfway between the noren looking around in awe. 

“Woah, damn.” Was All Johnny could say. He finally makes his way over to the counter, putting the bags down to look around at the fixtures. 

They arrange everything and Daniel pours the adults some very expensive sake. He starts a rice maker and Robbie starts doing vegetable prep. They decided on fried gyoza, takoyaki, Robbie is ready to learn to deep fry sushi rolls, a Japanese croquette, and Shabu shabu hotpot. 

Johnny reveals he brought three random brands of beer he got at the grocery. They end up being ones Daniel hasn’t even heard of, so it was quite an adventure. One was even melon flavored, they even let Robbie try that one because it wasn’t bad it was just kinda surprising. They all ended up liking it. 

Robbie and Daniel try and make Johnny roll up a sushi roll after only watching how once. They stand on either side of him as the (pretty lit) Johnny crouched down as close as he could to the Mr. Miyagi height counter, to concentrate on rolling it up. Once he is done he hands it to Robbie to slice. Everyone cheers when it turns out perfect. 

“Boom! Just like a Swiss roll cake!!” Johnny says with a laugh. 

“What does Johnny Lawrence know about Swiss roll cakes?” Daniel says with a raised brow. 

“For your information, I’m a world class pâtissier, every dessert at Cobra Roi for the past two decades have been my recipes.” He says with one finger in the air. Robbie is also skeptical. 

Then Johnny shows them photos of very beautiful plated French desserts, breads, pastry, and even a wedding cake. They are both very impressed. 

“You are full of surprises Johnny Lawrence.” Daniel says, shoving his shoulder a little. It gets a nice private smile out of him. 

Unsurprisingly Robbie is really good and fast at making takoyaki. Johnny likes eating them more than making them. The idea of flipping tiny octopus balls with chopstick drunk was way harder than he thought. Really, it was pretty funny to watch and listen to the string of curses. 

Johnny is really good at making gyoza though. They make a few fillings and he makes the dough for the wraps. He pleats dumplings like the wind. It blows Robbie and Daniel’s minds. He even pleats all the batches fancily and uniquely to identify them. 

“For like a whole year my only job was housemade pasta.” Johnny explains. “If you have a million handmade tortellini in one night, you either get there early or get fast.” He laughs at the memory, “I was going to be as lazy as possible sophomore year.”

Daniel actually likes hearing the stories Johnny tells as much as Robbie. He didn’t really know him this much personally. So it was interesting to see some of what was underneath the exterior. He also wasn’t weird or uptight in the kitchen the whole night. 

He makes Robbie and Daniel laugh, as well as seeming to have a good time cooking. They told him all about the kitchen and he got a look at some of Daniel’s collection of sake, he was impressed with the ones in jars. 

They also are up cooking a bit too late. Robbie goes to bed in the guest room and Johnny helps clean up before he heads home. 

“So why’d you end up moving back?” Johnny ends up asking as he washes dishes, Daniel currently putting up what is dried. 

“Besides the restaurant? I got a divorce because I couldn’t make it work with my wife. I thought getting back to my roots so to speak would help straighten me out again.” He sighs. “I hated a lot about what my career was, missed being in restaurants cooking for people and teaching people how to cook.”

“Mr. Miyagi always said ‘the richest life for a chef was to cook for the common man.’ The older I get the more I think he is right.” Daniel had thought about that a lot before he moved back. It was just the first time he talked about it. “Cooking for rich fake assholes sucks. It isn’t my idea of joy in cooking.”

Johnny seems to ponder that for a little bit as he works, he gets the same furrowed expression as Robbie when he is processing a thought. 

“No you’re right.” He leans against the counter so he can face Daniel a little better. “I’d much rather be traveling around working in kitchens to learn about food sometimes.”

“You still could, write a book about what you learned. Pay for the travel.” Honestly, Johnny would probably be good at it. He had experience that would make any kitchen manager in their right mind hire him. He literally could go anywhere and they probably wouldn’t care he couldn’t speak the language. 

“You ever thought about competing again?” Daniel still did (when his contracts weren’t be ‘renegotiated’ currently) and it made good money. 

Johnny actually laughs, but not in a happy way. “I stopped competing because I belong in kitchens LaRusso.”

Daniel squints in disbelief, “Are you serious? When I was in competition shows I was disappointed I never saw your name pop up. That was the best match I ever cooked.”

Johnny seems to not even know what to say to that, he clams up a little. “Thanks Daniel.”

Before Johnny leaves, he spy’s a book on the table in the living area. “Can I borrow that? I read the one Robbie has, it was good.” 

Daniel gives it to him with a smile on his face. It was his favorite book by Mr. Miyagi. Arguably it was his best book. It kind of warmed his heart that Johnny would want to read it. 

All in all, it was a really nice night. 

* * *

  
  
Johnny gets home at 4am and falls down on the couch. He decides to look through the book before he passes out and force himself to go to work. He doesn’t even make it past the first page. It’s a first edition and there is a handwritten note on page. 

‘ _Daniel-San,_

_May you alway find joy in food. Your joy reminds me of my own, let it fit fill your life with rich experiences._

_Love to you always my son,_   
_Miyagi Nariyoshi’_

This book was well loved and obviously special. He was kind of surprised Daniel would let him borrow it. More to think about. Daniel has been quite the puzzle lately.

Before he falls asleep he thinks absentmindedly that he should probably open the food processor. 

* * *

6am Monday morning. 

Kreese’s Rolls Royce pulls into the airport’s pickup lane, he pops the trunk. The window is rolled down despite the drizzle of rain for the cigar smoke to escape. The trunk slams shut. 

He grins when the door opens up. Donned in a very fancy hand cut Armani suit and custom shoes for the first time in many years, looking very much himself. 

Terry silver. 

“Welcome back my brother.”


	6. Abattoir

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Terry and Kreese are up to some messy business, what is their end scheme? The boys bond in an unconventional way and call out the adults on their flirting

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> PLEASE check out this lovely fanart by Dedlit!! I seriously love it so much ;A;
> 
> https://dedlit.tumblr.com/post/637545887319654400/i-totally-got-sucked-into-this-amazing-lawrusso
> 
> Sorry This took so long and Sorry for the suprise terry/Kreese? Idk it just stuck so we are going with it! 
> 
> I think I fixed my phone’s autocorrect of Robby’s name(I will go back and fix past chaps soon). Lol what do you think so far?

_abattoir_ (n.)- a slaughterhouse. 

  
Terry follows Kreese up to his mahogany office, he hadn’t been in Cobra Roi in what felt like forever. He normally flew John out to New York instead, because you couldn’t get Kreese to take off work if he was in the city. Lets just say Terry doesn’t like John’s attention divided. He glances out the window across the street at the little building labeled ‘ _Miyagi ramen and sushi,_ ’ letting out a soft chuckle. 

“It’s certainly been a while.”

John sits down on the couch and puts a wrapped box next to him. “Come here.”

Terry takes off his over coat and jacket, leaving them on John’s desk. He comes over to sit next to him, a wrapped bottle in his hand. He brought him a $10k bottle of Moët & Chandon, Dom Perignon White Gold, he knew that they would both enjoy. It had been a minute since he had seen the man, so a gift was in order. 

Terry throws his legs over John’s thighs as he opens his own gift. John lets one of his hands settle on Terry’s thigh. A box of very expensive AniverXario cigars aged eight years. He gives him a smile and wraps an arm around his shoulders. “How thoughtful. Thank you baby.”

John was always a nice reprieve from his normal everyday goings on. He also seemed to soften up whenever Terry was around, having that kind of effect on someone as stubborn and ornery as John Kreese was powerful. Here he is basically purring as Terry pets through his hair. He told him he came to help, so he would. 

John leans their foreheads together and sighs, giving him a soft smile. The kind of smile he only gives Terry. “I missed you.”

Really distance wasn’t any fun, but they were both stubborn about the businesses and brands they had built. The older they got, the more it sucked. Honestly, he takes most any excuse to get out here or get him to New York. Terry presses a kiss to the corner of his lips and gives him a squeeze. “I missed you too.”

They opened the bottle and drank for a bit, just enjoying a quiet moment. It was the only time neither of them had to put on any front or mask. It seemed like they had less time for it these days. 

“What do you think we can do about LaRusso?” John eventually asks, lighting a cigar. 

Terry chuckles, “Dear old Daniel quit because he couldn’t handle the pressure.”

“So I say we turn up the pressure.”

* * *

  
  


Johnny wakes up the next morning to a text from Daniel. 

_‘I had a good time, we should get together again soon’_

It made him smile, he had a really nice time too. He was still a little mystified by all of Daniel’s mysterious kindness. He wasn’t use to kindness without some kind of alterier motive. This all seems genuine. Especially, letting Johnny borrow the book. 

It gets his feelings twisted up in a way he isn’t use too, but not entirely a bad way. 

‘ _I’d like that’_

He heads off to work after texting Daniel back, his drive was full of thoughts of the other night. Small moments with Robby and Daniel that still lingered pleasantly in his mind. 

Miguel even notices Johnny’s good mood. Making an effort to hassle the man about who he was into that was making him smirk so much. He mostly ignores him and rolls his eyes. He must have been pretty obvious. 

Miguel works on handmade pasta for the dinner service specials. He is great at the ravioli, they are all uniform and perfectly sealed before he puts them in the freezer. Johnny makes sure to tell him that he did well, earning him a cheery grin from the boy. 

He however struggled with the delicate tagliatelle. After he runs the dough through the pasta cutter it turned into a globby mess. He lets out a groan in frustration. 

Johnny laughs and goes over to check on what happened. “Don’t worry, your dough was too wet, throw a few more handfuls of flower in there next time.” He gives him an encouraging pat and goes back to the ticket he is working on. 

“You know one time I messed up angel hair so much Kreese made me eat a pile of raw noodles.” He says with a laugh, Miguel however didn’t laugh.

Miguel’s fave screws up into a scowl. “I ain’t eating raw pasta chef.” 

“Eh, it’s not as bad as raw meat.” That just makes Miguel gag, Johnny chuckles. Really it was a fucked up memory. He had to laugh at it or he would just be mad. Being forced to eat your mistakes, mostly raw, wasn’t exactly a cakewalk. He was always told it was ‘taking responsibility for your mistakes.’ 

So he stopped making mistakes. 

However that wasn’t how Miguel was going to learn. It didn’t teach Johnny anything besides how cruel humans can be. 

“Don’t worry kid, no stomach pumps needed here.”

That seems to ease Miguel back into his task, he got it right the second try and starts to make little nests of noodles to freeze. 

Daniel ends up texting Johnny when service rush starts to die down. 

**Daniel** : what about Thursday?

 **Johnny** : Robby should pick what we cook. 

**Daniel** : I’ll tell him, next week my kids are in town. You should teach them about steaks, they are bored of my food. 

**Johnny** : I don’t see how anything you cook is boring LaRusso. You got a grill?

 **Daniel** : you know my house has irori hearth right?

 **Johnny** : I’ll bring the meat. 

Once he stops texting he looks over to find Miguel grinning at him with a mischievous look. He must have been grinning at his phone again. _Fuck._

“You are really into someone aren’t you chef?” He elbows Johnny in the ribs waggling his brows and earns his head being shoved away playfully. 

“Don’t you have pasta to make?”

“That wasn’t a no.” He says with a sing song tone. Returning to his pasta. 

Johnny’s feelings about Daniel were complicated at best. It was strange to have someone to talk too that seemed to want him around. The more time they spend together he realizes they have a lot in common. And he will admit, he liked having him around. 

  
  


* * *

  
  
Daniel and Robby work on some of the fancier items on the dinner menu. Robby practices cutting fish, his knife skills have gotten really sharp. He has very precise and beautiful cuts, fish or vegetables. 

Robby practices the Japanese names for all of the fish. Of course, they eat as he works. Little cups of soy sauce next to the cutting board. Tasting all the different pieces and talking about the difference in each flavor. 

“Having you here really helps keep me on task. Thanks for that kiddo.” He gives him a sideways hug from where they are standing. 

“Thanks for letting me learn from you Mr. LaRusso. It means a lot.” Robby’s voice is quiet and earnest. He really was a wonderful kid. 

Daniel ends up sucked into texting Johnny, smiling widely at his phone the whole time. He was happy that he wanted to cook together again, also just pleased to heard from him. As usual. 

“Are you texting with dad?” Robby laughs. “Ew! Text someone else.”

“Hush, you are out of line.” Daniel says with a half smile, he must be being pretty blatant about being happy when he gets a text. 

“He opened the food processor you bought him you know. It sat on our counter in the box for weeks.” Robby says causally as he works on some barbecued eel. 

That makes Daniel smile, his chest feels warm. He liked doing nice things for Johnny. He had a feeling Robby and Johnny hadn’t had enough of that in their lives. Seeing them react to small gestures was sometimes heartbreaking, like they didn’t understand why it was happening. They deserved better than that. 

“Your dad wants you to pick what we cook this Thursday.” 

“Oh yeah, nice.”

“Next week I have my kids. I was thinking Johnny could teach us about steaks on the irori.” Daniel wasn’t expecting the shocked look on the boy’s face. 

“Dad is gonna teach us? Huh... that sounds cool.” Robby almost was in disbelief. Him and Johnny needed moments like that. 

After that Robby seems to be in deep thought, processing something. Brow furrowed and bottom lip poking out as he works. 

“Why do you think dad didn’t want me at Cobra Roi?”

“I... I don’t think Cobra Roi makes your dad very happy.” Daniel could tell how much the place had beaten down the once cocky bright young chef. It was painful. “His boss is harsh and cruel frankly.”

“I use to work for a man like that. In the 90’s after culinary school I started working at the Japanese restaurant in NYC. Owned by a filthy rich chef. He was like Kreese... I couldn’t take it.”

He tells Robby about it. His year and a half at Silverfish still sticks to his mind like an old festering wound. Terry Silver plucked Daniel up right out of culinary school, knowing he reputation. He used his inexperience, naivety, and need to please against him. 

Terry drew him in with his charming personality and caring mask that he wears so well. He acted like he cared about Daniel, all alone in a big new city. He promised to make Daniel a real confident world class chef, instead he just broke parts of Daniel’s spirit. 

Terry was insanely harsh in the kitchen. Nothing like the gentle caring mask he wore in front of Daniel away from Silverfish. He would berate you for mistakes in front of customers. Even hold it against you for a while, bringing it up to remind you how bad you are at it. 

He would even smack your back or your elbows to correct your posture. It wasn’t dinner service, it was a dictatorship. You were a good dinner soldier or you were out. He promised to ruin reputations of people that left. 

Eventually once dinner service he sent up a wrong dish and Terry went ballistic. Grabbing Daniel by the front of his chef’s coat and slamming a knife into the cutting board inches from his hand. 

He left immediately and never came back. Daniel barely even reacted, he just left. He didn’t even cash his last paycheck, he just wanted it all gone from his memory. It changed how he trusted people, even his own wife later in life. He still thinks about it a lot. 

A year later he learned Terry was Kreese’s best student. It wasn’t entirely surprising. He ran his kitchen the same way, like soldiers fighting a war. 

“Food isn’t war; it is suppose to bring people together.” Daniel says after telling his messed up tale, really more of it than even Amanda knew. 

“That’s messed up...” Robby says sadly, obviously thinking differently about Johnny not letting him work at Cobra Roi. 

Daniel receives a letter from City code enforcement in the mail. It says that his building isn’t up to code and inspectors will be there in a month. He is flabbergasted, he thought everything was in order. He slumps down his chair in defeat. They would have to push back opening day. 

It felt hopeless after he did all this work and now another red tape line to cross. This all felt like an uphill battle from the start. Robby pries the letter from his hand and sits down with him. Giving the letter a look over. 

“So what if we have to push opening back, we will make stuff even better!” Robby puts a hand on Daniel’s shoulder. 

Really it’s what Daniel needed to hear as he is spiraling out of frustration. He gives Robby and smile, “You are right. We will make it even better.”

He isn’t sure what he would do without Robby around, he was good at making Daniel feel better. 

* * *

  
  


  
Johnny gets a call from Robby’s school, he had been in a fight. He leaves work early to go pick him up, Kreese seems surprisingly pleased to let him leave. That is way strange. 

When he gets to the school he find Miguel, covered in bruises sitting in front of the principal’s office. God. Damnit. 

“Please don’t tell me you were fighting my kid?”

“Robby is your kid?!” Miguel says incredulously. 

Johnny sits down next to him and rubs his hands over his face. “Why are you and Robby beating on each other between classes?”

“He works at Miyagi, so I was just trying to hassle him a little bit... we got out of hand.”

Johnny is pretty horrified to see Kreese’s elitist attitude had rubbed off on Miguel so fast. The restaurant wasn’t even opened and he as already pitting kids against each other. Miguel didn’t seem like a kid that would just be like that. It was all Kreese. 

“Being a elitist chef sucks kid, I know from experience. All it does is push people away and make you look like an asshole. Kreese sucks. Don’t let him make you into some angry bitter person in the kitchen. You are better than that.” 

Miguel thinks on that for a little bit, “I’m sorry, Kreese said I should try to hassle him and-“

“He WHAT?!” Johnny’s rage flares up. How the fuck could that cruel bastard sick someone on his son. 

He has some fine choice words for Kreese. 

He then realizes Miguel looks scared, he was scared Johnny was mad at him. Eyes wide and full of regret. He is tensed up like he is scared Johnny would lash out, it makes some of the rage melt away. He reaches out and rubs Miguel’s back. 

“I’m not mad at you. I’m mad that bastard would use you to get at my kid.” He lets go of a heavy sigh. 

“I’m really sorry... I’ll apologize to Robby.” His voice sounds fragile. He felt mad for Miguel, neither boy deserved this. 

“I promise I’m not mad Miguel. Come on let’s get Robby and go talk.” He gives the kid’s hair a ruffle. “I can talk to Carmen to make sure you don’t get in too much trouble.”

  
After getting Robby from the office he piles them into the firebird and drives them to his favorite little greasy burger place. The whole ride the boys are silent. Robby seems prickled that Miguel is going with them. But they need to fix this. 

They order burgers and sit down at a table tucked in a corner. The silence is deafening. The boys look ashamed and uncomfortable. 

“Look, you guys can’t hate each other because of the type of food you cook, I know from experience. Me and Daniel use to beat the snot out of each other, it really didn’t do any good.” If anything it made for a lot of complicated emotional problems later. If they could avoid it, they should. 

“I’m sorry I riled you up man... a fight over food is stupid.” Miguel admits, still avoiding Robby’s eyes. 

“Sorry I made it worse and hit you in the eye so hard.” 

“It’s ok, you have a pretty good right hook.” Miguel says with a chuckle, it makes Robby chuckle too. 

Halfway into their burgers the boys are just talking like everything was normal. Still a little fragile around the edges, but they didn’t hate each other. It really made Johnny think that him and Daniel could have saved years of headache if they manned up and talked out out like these kids. He was happy they seemed to be resolving some of their differences. 

He was proud of them. 

“Miguel should come over and learn full puff pastry with us. What do you think Robby?”

Robby looks over at Miguel, “You wanna?”

Miguel nods. Johnny feels pretty good that they could work this out so well. It gave him some hope about Daniel. It also made him have a little hope that he could be an alright dad, like the one he never had. 

Johnny slams his hands down on the table. “How about ice cream?”

Miguel laughs, “aren’t we suppose to be in trouble?”

“Don’t Tell your mother.”

* * *

  
Daniel finds out about the fight after Johnny texts him a rundown of what happened. He is horrified. How the fuck was Kreese still pitting children against each other? 

He feels guilty. All of this over a rivalry from the 80’s? It was enough to give him a headache and it was partially his fault. He felt horrible Robby was being used to get at them. It felt wrong. 

It reminds Daniel of Terry’s system of ‘everyone who isn’t us is the enemy or less than.’ It makes him feel gross and furious. 

He brings Robby a bonsai tree the next day, hoping it would lift the boy’s spirits a little after his incident. 

He expected Robby to be sullen but in fact he shows up, smattered in bruises, supposedly in a good mood. He tells Daniel about his dad picking them up and taking them for food. Them apologizing and even that they hung out the next day because he lives in the same apartment complex. 

Daniel is thrilled for him, even if it started in a fight, Robby seemed to have made his first friend in The Valley. Johnny even helped. 

He was even more shocked to hear that Johnny was teaching Miguel to cook. He was an amazing chef, he would be a good teacher. He had a skill set that was enviable, so he would be good at teaching finesse. He also thinks it would help him relate to Robby a little better. 

Something about Johnny being a caring good dad did things to Daniel. It twists up his guts and makes his chest pleasantly warm. It was hard to explain. 

While they have a break Robby stares at his new bonsai tree, sitting at the table with his chin rested on the surface. Studying delicate branches and leaves. His wonder is innocent and sweet, he really had become one of Daniel’s kids. 

Should he even be inserting himself into this complicated situation? Even if he shouldn’t, there was something that compelled him about Johnny Lawrence and his impossibly sweet son. He really cared about them. 

They take a break from knife skills to test a few okonomiyaki and a some yakitori recipes. While they work Daniel’s mind wanders. Something in him is still worried that Kreese would still send kids after each other. Really, it made the way Johnny and the rest of the ‘cobras’ treated him in high school make more sense. 

He was however really glad that Johnny made them talk it out; he was right they could have saved a lot of annoying incidents if they had done the same. Being at each other’s throats really never did any good. Daniel is still trying to grasp at the hope of getting closer to Johnny, like he wanted when he was younger. 

They end up having a nice day cooking. Robby helped keep him from dwelling too much on dark thoughts. 

Johnny comes to pick up Robby and has Miguel with him, also littered with bruises. Robby drags him into the back to show him the kitchen. Seeing them talk excitedly about kitchen equipment was sweet. That could have been them if they weren’t so damned stubborn. 

“Hey thanks for all my lunches, you really don’t have to make me one. It’s a lot of trouble.” Johnny says after a minute of watching the kids. 

“I wanted too.” Daniel admits, it feeling a little more raw than he expected. 

Johnny just gives him a soft private smile that quirks up a little more on one side. His big blue eyes look so gentle when he smiles like that. That’s why Daniel likes to cook for him. 

“They are going to learn full puff pastry tonight.” Johnny tells Daniel when the boys finally come back out of the kitchen chattering excitedly. 

“My place isn’t near as nice as yours, but want to come drink some bad beer and learn how to beat butter up with a rolling pin?” 

Daniel can’t help but laugh. “Of course. Sounds fun.”

* * *

  
  
By the time Daniel comes over the boys are in pajama pants and Johnny is in an old gray pair of sweat pants. They ordered two big trays of pasta and the boys have taken over the couch watching some competition cooking show on Netflix. Daniel is still in most of his suit. 

“It seems I came way overdressed.” Daniel says with a laugh. 

“First of all LaRusso, you Are always overdressed.” He can’t help but chuckle at the fussy look that flashes across his face. “And secondly I forgot to explain the house rule. Cooking at home means comfy clothes are required.” 

Cooking at home was suppose to be for fun. At least it use to be. 

Johnny digs up a sweatshirt that is probably three times too big for Daniel and hands it too him. He abandons his suit jacket and button up on a chair and puts it on. It’s huge and if Johnny was being honest, pretty adorable. 

Daniel watches the kids from the kitchen while Johnny gets beers out of the fridge for them. They are currently making fun of the contestants choices on the show, they look like they are having a pretty good time. 

“Hey, I know this parenting stuff is hard, but for what it’s worth I think you are doing a good job.” Daniel says as he takes the beer from Johnny’s hand, brushing their fingers together softly. 

That short circuits some things in Johnny’s brain for a minute. That meant a lot to him. He felt really lost trying to be a parent and it was frankly fucking hard. Every now and then get gets to see Robby just be a happy kid and that made all the hard stuff worth it. 

“Thanks Daniel...”

He realizes as soon as it leaves his mouth that he hasn’t ever said Daniel’s name to him. It felt soft and new in his mouth. Johnny also didn’t hate saying it. It even made Daniel smile. 

Once everyone had eaten they all get into the too-small kitchen and learn to make and knead the dough. After Johnny gives then each a huge block of butter and a rolling pin. “Now we are going to beat the shit out of this butter into a rectangle sheet to fold into the dough. After we fold it into the dough like a book and chill it. Roll it out and fold it some more.”

“Pastry is much more violent than I expected.” Miguel says with a laugh before giving the stick of butter a mighty wack.   
  
“I need more muscles for this.” Robby says as he changes arms. 

“Don’t ever let anyone tell you baking is for pussies.” Johnny says firmly, it gets a laugh out of Daniel. 

They have a good time banging out their frustrations and laughing at how much noise they made in the small kitchen. They fold up their butter into the rolled out dough and put them into the fridge to chill. 

Between chilling and making more folds, the kids decide to torture Johnny and make him watch ‘Nailed It.’ It was two continuous hours of the kids and Daniel laughing at Johnny’s horrified reaction to how people handled food. 

Even though he was tormented by the sight of people not following a recipe and knowing how to just make a damn cake, he had a really good time. He was still worried for the masses who didn’t know how to boil water. 

Johnny was use to the familiar pull of depression this time of night, but he was pleasantly distracted by bantering with Daniel and the kids. It was different, but it was good. 

They bake some tiny beef Wellingtons and spanakopita. They turn out pretty flawless, the butter didn’t even leak out. Flaky and satisfying. 

The boys go to bed, Daniel and Johnny stay up and watch food network. Piled up on the couch under a blanket like the kids were earlier. They drink and Daniel tells him some dirt about some of the famous chefs. Apparently a lot of celebrity chefs were just giant assholes. Some of the stories make Johnny cry-laugh. 

After a while Daniel asks what got Johnny into food. 

“We didn’t have money until mom married Sid. So back then food was kinda scarce. Mom and I were obsessed with fancying up whatever we had. Even if it was adding some vegetables and an egg to .10¢ ramen.” He smiles at the memory. “After she married Sid I still had a obsession with food, it always kind of felt like somehow we would end up hungry. I thought learning to cook would help me never be hungry again.” 

He ponders for a while and lets out a sigh. After Sid came into their lives him and mom didn’t cook together anymore. They had staff that did that. So Johnny learned to cook using books and then from Kreese. 

“I use to want to help people who didn’t have enough food, now I can barely pay my bills. Irony.”

Daniel Just listens. Big soft brown eyes watching his face for something. “You still can help people John.” 

Really he is always taken aback by Daniel’s insistent support. He isn’t use to someone actually believing he still can do those things. That he wasn’t just a beaten down mean ole dirtbag chef. 

Really Daniel was the only person that didn’t make him feel like a total looser. He doesn’t understand it, Daniel has everything. He should be hanging around better people. Or at least more interesting ones. 

Part of him, a selfish part, is glad Daniel did like hanging around him for some reason. His presence always seemed to lighten up his day, hell even texting during the week lighted up his day. He had those big brown doe eyes that bored into his soul and a sweet cheerful smile, like sunshine. It always made him feel better. Even if he wasn’t good at showing it. 

  
“I think of I wasn’t such an asshole we probably could have been good friends.” Johnny thinks about Robby and Miguel laughing and joking together on the couch. 

It really could have been different. 

“Remember, I also goaded you into some of those fights.” He says with a chuckle. “I think we still could be.” Daniel says earnestly, he reaches out and gives Johnny’s forearm a squeeze. 

For the first time in a long time he really had someone that he felt like he connected with, not on a superficial level. His arm burns where Daniel’s touch seemed to linger. 

_Fuck he is helpless for LaRusso._

It seems to take them forever for Daniel to decide to go home. Watching one more show, still piled up on the couch. Lingering in the doorway together for a bit before Daniel heads off to his car. 

Johnny goes to bed with his head full of questions. Framed with thoughts of soft brown eyes and a gentle voice tinged with a New Jersey accent. 

Daniel had been more supportive and kind to him than just about anyone in his life. He helped him bond with Robby, that alone was worth more than anything in the world. 

Even if Johnny didn’t understand it, he really wanted him around. 


	7. Exocarp

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Terry spins a web that creates a bunch of issues for Daniel. Johnny and the boys try to make him feel better.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HAPPY HOLIDAYS EVERYONE! 💕  
> I hope you guys enjoy this chapter, Terry and Kreese up to no good and a little fluff thrown in there for good measure.
> 
> Tell me what you think and blessed end of the year!

  
_Exocarp_ (n.) – A fruit’s outermost shell, skin or otherwise protective layer.

  
Waking up in Johnny’s sweatshirt on his own couch was definitely a new one for Daniel. He didn’t realize he forgot to return it, even though he took his shirt and coat. It’s soft from being well worn and huge so extra comfortable. It also just makes him think of Johnny. 

Johnny is all he really thinks about that morning. Seeing him be easy and relaxed while having fun with the kids was probably becoming Daniel’s favorite. Really he didn’t have to invite Daniel at all, so it felt pretty special to be part of. Seeing Robby have a good time with his dad and new friend was also pretty special. 

He always thought Johnny was born into money. He had no clue the man’s love of food came from such a humble place. It was a touching story. Johnny was much more complex than he let on. All the sharp edges and machismo hid someone who really hid a lot of pain and self doubt. 

Seeing him react to telling him he was doing a good job with Robby broke Daniel’s heart. He really thought he had ruined his chances. No one deserved to be beaten down like that, especially from someone they wanted approval from. If he even wanted that anymore. 

He deserved better. The more time they spend together, the more Daniel gets to see little glimpses the bright cocky young chef that he use to know. When he laughed really hard, when he gave a private smile, bantered playfully with that stupid (cute) smirk across his face, even when he was just making the kids laugh with a dumb joke. That’s the Johnny that Daniel use to moon over. He was still in there. 

More than anything he wanted to help build the man back up, Robby and Johnny deserved that. 

He remembers that Johnny is going to talk to Kreese about the fight, he is honestly worried for him. If he is still pitting children against each other, he would still be physical with someone. The memory of Johnny getting choked prickles in the back of his mind, but he tries to push it away. 

He makes sure to text Johnny as normal, even if he hadn’t responded. It must be a rough day. He hopes that the man is alright. 

  
  


* * *

  
  
Robby and Miguel get dropped off at school by Johnny. Robby has been hanging out around Miguel a lot since they made up. It was nice to have a friend that lives really close too, let alone a friend at all. 

Eli, or Hawk as he insisted now, sees them getting out of the firebird and stalks over to them. He also works at Cobra Roi. He gets into Miguel’s face. “You friends with him now traitor?” He shoves his Miguel’s shoulder hard to make his point. 

“Oh fuck off Eli, since when did you become cobra sherif?” Miguel spits back, storming away from him. 

Robby didn’t realize that Miguel would get shit for being nice to him, dad was right elitism is stupid. He makes sure to stay out of ‘Hawk’s’ way and follows after Miguel. After they make it past most of the crowd Robby catches up with him enough to grab the sleeve of his jacket. 

“I’m really sorry that he hassled you because of me.” 

Miguel gives him a smile. “Don’t worry about it, your dad was right, being elitist sucks.”

They don’t see each other again until lunch and Miguel looks pissed. Apparently he has most of his classes with other kids that work at Cobra Roi, Hawk’s word travels fast. Robby can tell that he is about ready to be one straw away from another fight. 

“Wanna skip until I have to go to work? We could ride down to the beach.” Robby offers, he hadn’t skipped in a while and most of his classes after lunch weren’t very important. 

Miguel lets out a groan and throws his arms up. “Oh my god, YES. lets get the fuck out of here.”

Robby laughs and they shove their food back into their backpacks. Heading towards the parking lot to get their bikes. 

They take residential streets all the way to the beach, it was a pleasant ride through scenic neighborhoods. When they get there they find a corner to themselves to sit on their jackets and eat lunch. 

Miguel shares his mom’s leftover tamales and Robby lets him try all the parts of Mr. LaRusso’s bento. Even the parts Miguel said looked weird, he ended up liking. 

“You like learning from Mr. LaRusso? Learning from your dad is pretty cool.” Miguel asks after a while. 

“It’s probably the most amazing thing I’ve ever gotten to do, but I don’t get many chances near as awesome.” Robby says with a laugh. 

“Your dad is like a world class chef, you didn’t like learning from him?” Miguel seems puzzled. 

“Me and dad don’t really know each other that well. I only started living with him recently. The pastry was the first time we cooked together at home.” It still feels strange to have to explain that to people. He isn’t sure it won’t stay a sore spot for a while. 

“I don’t really know my dad either. It’s cool that he seems to at least be trying now.” 

“Yeah, it’s nice to have him around. It’s also nice him and Mr. LaRusso get along now, he was really pissed when he found out I worked for him... now they seem to be pretty good friends.” Robby says thoughtfully, really it was nice having them both around. Johnny seemed happier when Mr. LaRusso was around. 

“Wait, is that who your dad is always texting?” Miguel says with raised eyebrows. “Oh no man, he is in love with that guy. He looks at his phone like a lovesick dog.”

Robby squeals out a loud ‘EW’ and falls back onto the sand laughing. Miguel ends up laughing as hard as Robby does. “Mr. LaRusso does the same thing! I wonder how long that will take them to figure out.”

“Wanna bet on it? I give them two weeks.” Miguel says as his laughter dies down. 

“A month. Maybe longer. Dad is slow on the uptake I think.” Robby snickers. 

Robby is glad they ended up skipping, he has a really nice time at the beach. Miguel is funny and big expressive eyes that show every emotion when he talks. He really just likes being around him. 

He wonders how long it will take Miguel to realize that he likes him. 

“Want to come to Miyagi with me since you aren’t working today?”

  
  


* * *

  
  


After dropping off the boys at school, Johnny lets his anger set in driving to work. He still can’t believe Kreese sent someone after his kid, let alone the kid that he was teaching. By the time he parks the firebird he is seething. 

Johnny storms into the dining room to find Kreese talking to someone. He didn’t really give a fuck who the man was this couldn’t wait. Kreese looks over at Johnny before he can make it over there, causing the other man to quiet. 

“Lawrence, come meet my old friend Terry Silver. He is in town for business.” Kreese says with a smirk. The man is dressed far too nice for Johnny’s taste and he has a predatory hint to his smile that he disliked immediately. 

“So you are John’s head chef. Interesting.” He get way too close for Johnny’s liking and holds onto the handshake too long. Johnny instantly doesn’t care for him or his smarmy face. “I’ve heard good things.”

“Yeah, I’m sure.” He says with an eye roll, yanking his hand away and getting Terry further out of his personal space. 

“I’ll be interested in seeing dinner service tonight.” Terry says mostly to Kreese. Terry was beginning to be the most irritating person that he has ever met. 

“Can you excuse us, we have something to discuss.” Johnny growls out, quite frankly tired of Terry’s presence. Terry thankfully excuses himself and Johnny faces Kreese with a cold glare. 

“If you ever send someone after my kid again, I’ll drag your old ass out into that parking lot and beat on you till the cops come.”

John Kreese wasn’t one to be fazed by threats, he just gives Johnny a smile spread wide across his face. Voice low and threatening. “I’d like to see you try.”

He slaps Johnny on the back before walking off. “Good to see some of your old fire back Lawrence.”

Johnny is glad Miguel doesn’t work today, because no one needed to be around him in the mood he is in. He hadn’t been this angry in years. Before service he goes into the deep freeze and pounds some dents into the freezer doors. Everyone makes sure to stay out of his way, if anything he was on a shorter leash than Kreese today. 

He cooks furiously through lunch service. Letting out his anger into what he was doing, it was the only way he could deal at the moment. Knowing if he did more than bark out ticket orders or cook, he would explode on someone for real. 

Johnny doesn’t calm down until he gets to his car to take a break, it was hard to be mad when Daniel made him such a nice lunch. He realizes that he hadn’t check his phone all day. 

_[20 messages from Daniel LaRusso]_

Johnny is kind of taken aback. Daniel kept texting him even though he didn’t respond. Some were pictures of food, thanking him for letting him borrow the sweatshirt, that he had a nice time, wishing him luck with Kreese, some recipes Robby sent him, pushing the opening of Miyagi back, and finally that he hopped that Johnny had a good day.

**Daniel** : hope everything is ok

This was the first time Johnny really felt like someone cared about how he felt. He kind of stares at his phone blankly for a while, Daniel was his best friend. It was a strange thought and he didn’t really know how to process that at the moment. Seeing how he is still processing having feelings for him. 

He texts Daniel back that he confronted Kreese but he didn’t seem to care. He met a giant asshole in an expensive suit and was pissed off, but feels kind of better now. He wishes him a good day before he heads back inside. It did make him feel better but be was still annoyed. 

Terry is annoyingly around all dinner service. Watching everyone with his predatory blue eyes, very frequently in Kreese’s personal space. He notices Kreese has a tendency to touch Silver’s arm or back when they talk. 

Kreese isn’t exactly known for PDA or being affectionate, so that was somewhat strange. They must close. He didn’t talk about his personal life much. He would be into the most irritating man alive. 

All in all. It was a completely obnoxious night. 

  
  


* * *

  
  


Daniel greets Robby when he hears the door, but is greeted with two faces. “Oh hi Miguel, no work today?”

“Nah, think I could stick around and watch?” 

“Nonsense, you can cook with us. More opinions may help us pair down the donburi recipes.” Daniel leads both boys in the back, he is glad to see Robby and Miguel getting along. He really needed friends his own age. 

The boys have a good time working with some of the fancier proteins, wagyu beef and bluefin tuna being the favorites. Miguel was really good at cooking proteins, he could see why Johnny wanted to teach him. He even gave them tips for the steak that Daniel didn’t know. 

Daniel hears the door chime, he tells the boys he will be back and to keep working. After wiping off his hands he makes his way out to the dinning room. 

“Hey, we are currently clos-“

His words die on his tongue as soon as he gets a good look at who it is. His hair is grayed and his face is more lined, but Daniel would recognize him anywhere. With the same wide smirk painted across his lips that lived in the depths of Daniel’s memory, _Terry Silver._

Everything in Daniel’s body coils up tense. All the old anxiety comes back, the cold fear that sat in his gut. “What do you want?”

“I was in town and I thought I would check up on you Danny-boy. You look good.” He walks around the dining room looking around. Making sure to stop in front of Daniel’s Ukiyo-e prints, expensive Italian leather shoe steps ringing out loudly. “Nice place you have here. Very interesting location you chose.”

“I don’t have anything to say to you.” Daniel really just wants him to leave, this was his nightmare. 

Terry lets go of a musical laugh, coming over to get into Daniel’s face. “Still upset about a little scare?”

“I don’t like chefs that abuse their staff.” Daniel spits coldly, stepping out of Terry’s range. 

Terry’s mood shifts and he stalks back into Daniel’s personal space, this time closer. “This place is going to be trouble for you LaRusso. I’ve already started making it as complicated as possible.” His eyes are darken with something threatening, “You made a choice when you picked this location, I think you know that.”

“Fuck off and get out of my restaurant.”

Terry laughs and grips Daniel’s shoulder tight enough to bruise. “See you around Danny-boy. Real soon.”

As soon as the man is gone he locks the front door, retreating to his office to slump down in his chair. Tearing at his hair and letting go of jagged breaths. Trying his best to reign in an anxiety attack and a meltdown simultaneously. 

Terry was the one that sent the code enforcement after him, this was just the beginning. He was going to keep Miyagi’s doors closed for as long as he could. He didn’t know what he was going to do. He spent so much time trying to forget everything about Terry Silver that now it all accumulated into a mountain of issues. Daniel had a feeling he would see him again, just not here. 

He flinches when he feels a hand on his shoulder, feeling bad when he sees Robby’s worried face, Miguel not far behind him. “Are you ok Mr. LaRusso? Who was that?”

“Remember I told you about Terry Silver? Apparently he is in town to try and make opening Miyagi as impossible as possible.” Daniel leans back in his seat and sighs. “I don’t know what to do.”

He knew Terry’s games and he had the money to truly make things happen, that was dangerous. Kreese had already started to go after Robby, this was just another dangerous and complicated layer. 

“You can’t give up. You got this far, he isn’t king of America.” Miguel says firmly. 

“Yeah, besides if you give up that asshole wins.”  
Robby hands Daniel the photo of Mr. Miyagi and Daniel when he was in high school off of his desk. “He wouldn’t want you too.”

Daniel stares down at the picture fondly for a while. Robby was right, Mr. Miyagi wouldn’t want him to give up. If anything he would want him to stand his ground. Especially against Silver, Mr. Miyagi was one of the only people that knew the whole truth about Daniel’s time in NYC. He always said that Daniel would have to deal with the trauma he experienced there, he just tried to keep it buried. 

Letting people like Terry win wouldn’t change the industry. Good kids like Robby and Miguel would. 

“You’re Right.” Daniel gives them a tired smile. “How about we cook without anymore disturbances from assholes?”

The boys give him a hug before they head back to the kitchen. Robby had a knack for making Daniel feel better, he hoped that him and Miguel did that for Johnny as well. 

The one good thing was Johnny finally responded to his texts. That made him feel a little better as well, knowing the man was alright. He texts Johnny that the worst boss he ever had was in town and ‘dropped by’, that’s probably who he met earlier. He finds Johnny’s instant dislike of the man pretty funny. 

He needed to tell Johnny the truth about his time at Silverfish. 

The whole truth.   
  


* * *

  
  
The next day Johnny takes Robby to the Japanese grocery store to shop for cooking night at Daniel’s. It had become one of Johnny’s favorite new things during the week. It was an easy fun time with Robby, he needed it after the previous day. Especially after coming home and basically drinking himself into a coma. 

They had already gone through their snack and drink stash so they make sure to pick a whole new slew of things to try. It’s made their kitchen at home a little more exciting, they get to make different things for dinner, variety was good. They even pick up some weird candy and some suspiciously tasty looking cookies with a unpronounceable name. 

While Robby is in the frozen desert section, Johnny looks at some fancy rice cookers that they sell. He needs to remember to ask Daniel what a good one was, it would be a good gift for Robby. Since he has to boil rice ‘like a heathen’ at home, as Robby says. 

Halfway through getting the rest of their groceries, Robby seems annoyed. “Hey, what’s up?”

“Yesterday some asshole that use to be Mr. LaRusso’s Boss came in to harass him yesterday, he was upset... I think he is gonna try to keep Miyagi closed.” Robby says sadly. 

Johnny is instantly pissed. Kreese brought Silver here to fuck with Daniel. That was petty and honestly, kind of insane. How far were they willing to go? All Daniel wanted to do was cook and make a tribute to Mr. Miyagi. 

“If anyone can, LaRusso can make that restaurant happen.” He rubs Robby’s back. “Some rich asshole isn’t gonna stop him, not with Miyagi’s name on the sign.”

It seems to make Robby feel a little better, but it doesn’t make Johnny feel better. He is furious. Daniel didn’t deserve this, he saw how hard that he and Robby were working on that place. He could tell it meant a lot more to him than just making money or some fame. 

He tries to push most of the bad thoughts away to enjoy the rest of their trip to the store. It was a nice distraction from how utterly insane the situation was. 

They get back to the apartment a few hours before they need to be at Daniel’s house. After putting up the groceries he checks some of what is in his pantry. 

“Hey, go ask Miguel if he wants to learn to make donuts and beignets.” Johnny washes his hands and gets out a few bowls while Robby goes over to Miguel’s door. 

  
“Who said something about donuts?” Miguel says as he pops his head in the door. Robby laughs and shoves him the rest of the way into the apartment. 

“We are makin’ Mr. LaRusso donuts.” Johnny tells them as he measures out some flour into the bowls. 

“Huh?” Robby seems confused.

“Donuts make everything better.” Johnny declares firmly. They were actually his go-to comfort food. Especially after a really fucked up day. He figures Daniel needed that after yesterday. 

They make a few different varieties, reugular glazed and fancily iced ring donuts, a cake donut, and three different filled ones. They learn how to make the jelly and Bavarian Creme, the boys have a good time testing different icing techniques and eating the failed attempts (that still tasted good).

Even though they leave the kitchen a wreck before he takes Robby over to Daniel’s, he has a really good time just hanging out with the kids. It helped after his messed up day. 

Cooking with the boys had become one of his most favorite things. He really had Daniel to thank for that, he owed him a lot of thanks actually 

He was excited to spend more time cooking with Daniel and Robby. Most of the thoughts about their messed up situation far away for the moment.   
  


* * *

  
  
Daniel is nervous to tell Johnny about the whole truth behind his time at Silverfish. Really the only person that knew the whole story was Mr. Miyagi. People either knew the bare minimum or nothing at all. He kept it that way for a reason. It was easier that way. 

Until it wasn’t anymore. 

Daniel refused to deal with the emotional damage so long that it literally ruined areas of his life, now he was being faced with it head on. It was an issue that even made trust in his marriage scarce. Now Terry Silver was back and he wanted to mess up Daniel’s new start. 

Now he was being forced to deal with it. 

Mr. Miyagi urged him in the 90’s to get help for the emotional wounds caused by his time there, but Daniel was too stubborn. Now his words echo clearly in his mind. 

_‘Daniel-San, the past will always find you. Until you make peace.’_

He wasn’t so sure how he was going to make peace with any of it. If he was being honest, a lot of the day he just let himself sulk and spiral. The only thing bringing him back to the present is Johnny sending him a picture of Robby and Miguel covered in flour kneading some kind of dough. 

**Johnny** : They recked the kitchen. See you soon.

It makes Daniel smile. He is glad that Johnny is teaching them both some stuff at home. He can tell that the boys are having a good time. Johnny really is doing better at being a dad than he realizes. 

  
When Johnny and Robby get there, Johnny hands Daniel a pastry box. He opens it to find beautiful donuts and beignets. He isn’t sure what to say, the kids and Johnny cooked for him. He can’t even process how impossibly sweet and thoughtful that was. 

“Donuts always make me feel better when stuff is shitty.” Johnny says with one of his soft private smiles that make Daniel’s heart launch into his throat. 

“Thank you Johnny.” Daniel was still just in awe that he would be so thoughtful to try and cheer him up. Even when Johnny had a terrible day as well. Even though he hadn’t eaten any, the gesture itself does make him instantly feel better. 

Johnny Lawrence really was full of surprises. 

Really he does feel better when they start cooking. Robby and Johnny bantering over what kind of kitchen tools were the most useful made Daniel feel normal again. Having them around really did help. They had no idea that they had that kind of effect on people, that was almost half the charm of the pair of them. 

They learn how to make their own fresh soba and ramen noodles. Robby seems to have a lot of fun learning how to stretch the noodles. Johnny is already good at pasta, so he works like a Swiss watch. He corrects some of Robby’s movements to help save time, but all in all is encouraging and sweet. 

Johnny asks a bunch of questions about rice makers and other kitchen appliances in Daniel’s kitchen. Really, it was awesome to see him interested in what Robby loved. He likes to think that Johnny has a good time learning about Japanese food too. 

Even though he knows that yesterday was hard for Johnny, he did a great job at keeping his spirits up for Robby and Daniel. He could tell this time with Robby was important to him. They drink the strange assortment of beer that he picked up between very expensive cups of sake. 

Johnny cooks miso salmon steaks over the irori, he seems to love the rustic feel of it. He tells Daniel that he is excited to cook steaks on it and that he had some very fancy cuts of meats planned. 

The man also seems to have a good time. When he was relaxed he was funnier and more willing to banter playfully. It was nice to see him happy, especially with his son. 

Robby ends up going to bed rather late, but the adults pile on the couch and put on Rambo: first blood in the background. The volume mostly turned down so they could just talk. Daniel confides in Johnny that he is worried about the restaurant. 

After a while Johnny seems to ponder something with that quizzical look on his face. “So Silver was your boss?”

“Yeah... in the 90’s after culinary school I worked at Silverfish in NYC.” Daniel tried works out exactly how he was going to explain all of this. “He was kind of my boyfriend, at least that’s what he made me think.”

He can feel Johnny tense up at that, but he still patiently listens to Daniel explain. “Brand new in the big city and very naive, Silver plucked me up and promised to make me a great chef. He was charming and seemed to care about me, until I started working for him.”

The thing about Terry Silver is you never know what mask you will get. He had a well meaning, kind mask that convinced Daniel he wanted what was best for him. He truly thought Terry wanted to make him a better chef. 

The reality was Terry used their ‘relationship’ to manipulate Daniel into staying. Above anything he wanted Daniel in his brigade. “He wanted to keep me exactly where I was, so he would use any tactic to make me feel guilty or scared to leave. He would promise to ruin people when they left.”

He even made Daniel’s mistakes personal, bringing them up when they are away from the restaurant to make him feel bad. The worst was being cold-shouldered or ignored by him, when he was really pissed he acted like you didn’t exist at all. 

“Eventually one dinner service I was exhausted and sent up the wrong dish... he yanked me by my chef’s coat and slammed a knife an inch away from my hand on a cutting board. I left that night.... I didn’t even cash my last paycheck. I just wanted to forget it.”

Daniel trusted him way too long. The truth was he really wanted to believe that Terry cared about him, so much so that he ignored every red flag. It turned out to be one of the biggest mistakes Daniel ever made. 

He didn’t trust people the same way again after that. 

“I found out later he was Kreese’s best student and that they were in some kind of relationship. I wasn’t Terry’s boyfriend. I was a toy.”

Johnny listens with a crease between his brows, jaw flexing and fists balled up most of the story. Daniel felt kind of ashamed to admit all of that to him, but he needed someone to know the truth if he was going to deal with Silver. 

“I’m... so sorry Daniel. That is so fucked up that Kreese would call him here to harass you... fuck I’m sorry about all of that.” Johnny eventually says with a heavy sigh. “You deserve better than that.”

“Thanks Johnny... the kids helped make me feel better yesterday. But you guys coming tonight really helped, it’s been weird with no one here.” Daniel says with a soft laugh. Johnny reaches out and puts a hand on Daniel’s forearm. 

“If Silver shows up to Miyagi again, I’ll beat his ass.”

Even if the threat makes Daniel laugh, it did make him feel a little better. Honestly, he is glad that he told Johnny. It felt good to confide in someone when everything was falling apart around him. It was his biggest mistake, he was so embarrassed and hurt that he tried to lock it all away. 

“Thanks Johnny.”

After a while they end up eating some of the donuts, still watching the mostly silent movie flashing in the background. Daniel is pleased to have a peaceful moment with Johnny. He wonders when they got this comfortable around each other. Really it came more naturally than he expected. 

“Donuts really do help.” Daniel says softly after a while. 

“Told ya.” Johnny responds with a gentle smile. The smile that always makes Daniel’s heart flip a little bit. 

Daniel wakes up on his couch at about 4am, they had both fallen asleep before the movie was over. Johnny is snoring softly curled up on the other end of the couch. Hair ruffled wildly and blond lashes dusting his cheeks, lips parted softly. He looks peaceful, before padding off to his own bed, Daniel covers him with a spare blanket. 

He falls asleep thinking about Johnny’s laugh and his warm smile. 

The next morning he wakes up to the smell of breakfast food. He finds Johnny in the kitchen making steak and eggs. Really it’s like some pleasant dream Daniel’s wishful brain came up with. If he didn’t remember falling asleep on the couch, he may not have believed it. 

“Morning, since I stole your couch I thought I’d make myself useful.” Johnny says with a chuckle. 

Robby also stumbles into the kitchen, looking half asleep but tempted enough by the smell of food to stay standing. “You passed out late and you still got up early? You are insane.” 

Daniel agrees with a laugh and starts a pot of coffee. The smell alone should help Robby and Daniel get to the land of the living. 

“Waking up at the same time every day is healthy.” Johnny declares firmly. 

“For your information, waking up at the crack of dawn with no sleep isn’t healthy for anyone.” Robby says with narrowed eyes. 

It makes them both make the same annoyed face and huff in unison, really they are more alike than they know. It makes Daniel smile, it’s cute. While Johnny makes breakfast, Daniel works on the days bento lunches. 

Johnny seems to like watching him put the bentos together, it was also just nice having him and Robby there. Their light banter and questions really make Daniel feel at home. 

As much as Daniel didn’t need to, he really wistfully wished that this could be their mornings more often. Having them here made the house feel like home again. 

  
Johnny had no idea how great he really was, Daniel wanted to change that. 

Now more than ever. 


	8. Mise en place

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Daniel’s family antagonizes him over his crush and maybe the boys stop being dumb? :o

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy new year HAVE SOME FLUFF 🎉🎊  
> I really want to thank everyone that comments and chats with me about this fic, you really help fuel me to keep writing so CHEERS ILU 💕
> 
> Also wtf them evil husbands up too Dx?!
> 
> I hope this was worth the wait!!

  
_Mise en place- A French culinary phrase which means "putting in place" or "everything in its place"._

  
  


  
At Cobra Roi Miguel is glad that he gets to work in the kitchen now, because the dining staff clique sucked. Especially after Hawk outed him for being friends with Robby. Chef Kreese also doesn’t seem particularly pleased to be around him either, so that’s great. 

He eventually recognizes Terry Silver as the voice they heard the other day when Mr. LaRusso was so shaken up. Miguel is suddenly thankful they resisted looking out to see who it was, thinking it wouldn’t have been great that anyone knew he was at Miyagi. 

So Terry Silver is some apparently famous chef, Miguel learns after some googling. Well, he dressed way too fancy to be at work and quite frankly followed Kreese around like a dog. It was weird to see him with his stupid needy eyes and annoying grin. He didn’t get any of that and wasn’t about to ask. 

He didn’t understand why they were so bent up about of shape about Miyagi. Silverfish and Cobra Roi had like, long standing records of excellence. They were well established and both men have plenty of money. (Matching Rolexes he also notes.) Was there something he was missing? Did LaRusso burn down their house? 

  
It just seemed petty. And honestly kind of crazy. 

  
Miguel can tell Johnny doesn’t want to be there either. He is short with everyone, but thankfully softens up around Miguel. Lunch service went alright but every now and then a dining clique kid comes by to harass Miguel or Chef Kreese is yelling about things taking too long. (They were taking the same amount of time they always did.) All-in-all it was annoying. 

Johnny goes to lunch in his car and Miguel preps vegetables and cuts of meat for dinner service. It’s nice low impact before the storm of dinner service, it’s kind of meditative. Just the Sounds of knife cuts hitting the board satisfyingly and neat stations of product.   
  


Instant satisfaction.   
  


Then his zen is disturbed by Terry Silver leaning his stupidly long body against the counter across from him. Ugh. Yes, this is what he wanted. 

Silver just watches for a while, looking at his work as he slides it off too the side. It’s hellishly unnerving, you could tell that’s exactly what he wants. 

“So, have you heard Lawrence talking about any other opportunities as a chef?” Silver says as looks over some cuts of lamb. 

“What would I know? He’s a grown man, go ask him.” Miguel says. He just wanted to prep for dinner service in peace. 

“You are sassy. I like that.” Silver laughs. “Ever thought about Japanese food?”

Miguel flinches and resists the urge to just walk away. Did he know that he was at Miyagi the other day? 

“Why?”

Silver comes over so he can face him a little better, Miguel focuses on cutting. He has a wide grin painted across his face that Miguel hates. It’s like looking at a tiger at the zoo, too close to the glass. 

“I’m always looking for chefs at my restaurants in New York. Silverfish.” He says with his unnerving grin. 

“Very fancy, but I’m in high school.” Miguel says flatly. Hoping he would just leave. 

He laughs. “You won’t need high school where I’m taking you.”

Like a prayer was answered, Chef Johnny storms up to Silver. Gripping him by the lapels of his whatever designer suit. Growling at him to stay away from his chef. He hadn’t ever seen the man that pissed. The anger radiates off of him in waves. It was mildly terrifying. 

Silver just laughs and grins back at Johnny. A terrible glint in his blue eyes. “John said you use to have some fire.”

This seems to make the situation worse. Johnny jerks the man and gets him close. “Get the fuck out of my kitchen.”

After he shoves him back, Silver’s tall frame wavering as he rights himself. Johnny yells for Dutch to get him the fuck out. Silver laughs as he shows himself out. Seemingly happy to have riled up the whole kitchen staff. 

That guy. _Sucks_. 

Once Johnny calms down he drags Miguel back into the deep-freeze. 

“Look kid, that guy is not your friend.” He sighs. “I’ll explain more later, but just please be careful.”

This freaks Miguel out. Johnny seemed really scared out for him. If he knew anything about Johnny Lawrence was that the man was honest, like painfully so. So much so it was annoying to people around him. 

“I believe you.” Miguel nods. “Besides, that guy SUCKS.” 

It was kind of cool to have an honest adult on his life. It was refreshing. 

“I’m sorry to freak you out.” He sighs. “Before All of that... so want to come help teach Robby and LaRusso’s kids about steaks tonight?”

“Isn’t that like, family time?”

“You are family kid.”

* * *

  
  
  


  
The best thing about Daniel’s divorce is that Amanda and Daniel were still close friends. They were actually better friends than mates. It made parenting still now that they are separated much easier. 

Robby comes out to meet everyone, Anthony is more interested in whatever he is playing on his Nintendo Switch with headphones in. Sam however seems to get along with Robby pretty well, following him back to watch what he is up too into the kitchen.

“So... Robby is nice.” Amanda says with a sly smile. “I still cannot believe that you accidentally adopted your biggest crush’s son!”

“Will you quiet down.” Daniel says with with huff. He may have drunkenly ranted to her about how annoying it was Robby was Johnny’s son when he was still mad at him. 

“I just think it’s funny he is all you thought about before you moved back here.” She snickers and smacks his arm. “Good luck with ‘pretty boy Johnny’.” 

Daniel groans and is glad Anthony has headphones on. He was never going to hear the end of this. 

When she is gone he locks the door and heads back to check on the kids in the kitchen. Sam is sitting on the opposite counter, she isn’t suppose to be but they aren’t opened and it isn’t being used. Robby is working on some designs for decorative catering sushi trays. 

“Hey dad, Robby has a good idea. He says I should take the picture of the menu for the site for my photography class.” Sam says. She had been really excited about that class. 

“I think that’s a great idea sweetheart.” Really it would also help them nail down the final menu to see it all laid out. Robby could get some lessons in plating techniques and Sam would actually be involved for once. 

“I don’t like cooking but I like taking pictures of food.” Sam says. 

“That’s so weird.” Robby says with a laugh, earning the back of his head a shove. 

“No it’s weird you like hanging out in kitchens.” Sam says with a smirk. “That’s why you like to hang out with dad. He is hella weird.”

Daniel huffs in protest and Robby laughs. “It’s alright my dad is pretty weird too and he is a chef.”

“Oh yeah!! Your dad is THE Johnny Lawrence!” Sam says with emphasis on the man’s name. Daniel gives her a side ways glare, to no avail. “Dad is obsessed with that guy.”

“Sam!” Daniel cannot believe the collective audacity of his family at the moment. Really, maybe inviting Johnny over so soon to meet the kids was a bad idea. They weren’t even together. 

“Oh yeah Dad is obsessed with Mr. LaRusso too.” Robby says, causing Sam to kick her legs out howling laughing. 

Daniel literally wants to die. Being teased about a crush he has had since the 80’s by a couple of teenagers was not how he thought they were going to spend their afternoon. There was no way Johnny was obsessed with him. 

“You don’t even know how many times we heard the stories about dad’s rivalry with ‘ _pretty boy_ ’ Johnny in high school.” Sam snickers. 

“PRETTY BOY!” Robby is doubled over laughing. 

At this point Daniel is laughing too, because he had told those stories about a billion times. “You laugh, but your dad really did used to be pretty.”

Robby laughs so hard he smacks his head into the counter by accident. Sam is basically in tears laughing at that point. It takes them all a while to settle down and catch their breath. Returning to cooking between snickers. 

Even if he was worried about what Terry was exactly planning, it was nice to spend some time with the kids. It certainly helped keep him from dwelling too much on the future. If anything it just made him think about Johnny. 

The man was really kind about Daniel’s past with Terry Silver. It made him feel better to confide in someone about it after so long. It was sweet of him to say he would beat his ass too. Even if it was a bad idea. 

He thinks about how thoughtful it was for him to even listen or bring him donuts to cheer him up. Johnny was much more caring and sweet than he let on. He was a good man, he just needed better circumstances. He likes to think Robby and Miguel are the start of that. 

Maybe with some help from the kids, Johnny can believe that he actually deserves better. That is the hope anyway, sometimes the student teaches the master. He likes to think cooking with the kids gave some of the man’s confidence back, that he wasn’t just a glorified line cook. 

Daniel thought Johnny was way more than that. 

  
  


* * *

  
  


Learning about Daniel’s relationship with Terry Silver was like unleashing the gordian knot of emotions into Johnny’s brain. He felt horrible that creep manipulated Daniel like that, it made him want to beat the guy’s obnoxious grin into a pulp. Daniel didn’t deserve what happened. 

He also didn’t realize Daniel was into guys. Not that it had any reason to come up. It was different being into a guy that just got divorced, when you find out the guy is bi. Johnny was resigned to keeping his feeling to himself, but that kind of changed the tone of... _everything_. 

Johnny had been with guys before, but this was different. Daniel cared about his kid. He liked having Daniel around, he felt like he didn’t mind Johnny being around. Daniel was his friend. He didn’t have people he was genuinely comfortable around or anyone that he wanted to talk about nothing with. 

He really liked Daniel. Probably more than Johnny is willing to admit in that moment. 

Daniel is also insanely out of Johnny’s league. Like in every way. Everything about him now seemed fancy and well put together. He isn’t so sure Daniel isn’t just being nice just because of Robby or because he feels bad for him. There is part of him that hopes that Daniel could possibly like him back. 

Johnny is haunted by big soft Bambi eyes and soft jabs tinged with a New Jersey accent, grin painted across his face. Even when he was being an annoying little shit, he was cute. Can men Daniel’s age even be cute? 

He felt like an annoying teenager lamenting over his crush. 

Seeing Terry Silver trying to sink his claws into Miguel sets Johnny off. Immediately. Something about that scumbag trying to prey on Miguel made every ounce of rage pour into his bloodstream. 

He was getting sick of the games. You ever feel it in your bones that you would get into a fight with someone eventually? Johnny felt that as he looked into Terry’s gleaming blue eyes and wide bleached grin as the man laughed at his anger mockingly. 

To avoid going to jail today, he ejects the obnoxious man from the kitchen. In mild confusion to how in the world that guy was someone that Daniel used to be with. Kreese, yeah he can see that. But Daniel?

The whole event sits in Johnny’s mouth like a bad taste. Silver just being here was petty enough, let alone how hard the man was trying to push them. It seemed like anything was on the table now. Even the kids. 

He could tell Silver was trying to rile him up, for what it was worth, it was working. If Kreese keeps pushing he is going to get old Johnny, exactly like he wants. Not in a good way. 

Johnny wasn’t one to back down. Some rich asshole was not about to play with their lives without some kind of kickback. Especially when shit finally started to change...

The more shit changed, the less Cobra Roi was home.

He had a lot to think about.   
  


* * *

  
  
To say Daniel was kind of nervous to have Johnny over with all of the kids, was an understatement. Robby and Sam even complain about his incessant cleaning. Insisting the house was already clean. 

He isn’t sure why he is keyed up about this particular night. It just felt different. It was like their families coming together, it meant a lot to him. He guesses he just wants it to go well. 

By the time he catches himself cleaning the same counter for the third time and doing breathing exercises, he decides to do some shots of sake to calm down. He was annoying himself at this point. 

The kids wrangle him into watching an episode of ‘worst cooks,’ Robby noting this show would make Johnny cringe so hard. It makes them laugh and they decide to show him later. He starts to feel a little better after some more sake and laughing with the kids. Even Anthony throws out jabs at the contestants from his chair, behind his game screen. 

Daniel doesn’t even realize what time it is when he hears the back door open. 

“Hey, it’s just us.” Johnny calls out, hauling in a few armloads of groceries and a box in one arm. Miguel comes in not long after, stubbornly loaded with probably seven bags too many. He hears Johnny tell Miguel to take off his shoes and leads him into the kitchen. 

He hears them rustling around as they put things away and Miguel’s excitement about the kitchen. Daniel would always be proud of how nice the kitchen still was. It was nice to have people in it that loved food. 

It would make Mr. Miyagi happy. 

Miguel comes into the living room and plops down next to Robby. Johnny comes in with two beer bottles in hand, handing one off to Daniel. Some Korean beer that was honey flavored, it is actually pretty good. He sits down on the couch near Daniel.

Anthony looks up from his game for the first time the entire night and stares at Johnny. “That’s the guy?” He rolls his eyes and looks back at the screen. “I don’t see what the big deal is dad.”

Daniel feels his ears and cheeks on fire. His family was determined to give him an aneurism. “Anthony!”

This makes Sam, Miguel, and Robby explode in laughter. Sam wheezes that she thought Johnny was ‘pretty,’ making Robby absolutely loose it. Leaving poor Johnny very confused to what in the world the kids kids meant. 

“Uh... okay.” Johnny says dryly as he swigs his beer, sending the teens into another fit of giggling. 

It turns out making Johnny watch ‘worst cooks’ was pretty hilarious. Seeing him scream out curses and hide his eyes behind his hands as someone touches food like a literal alien, was a unique brand of entertainment for Daniel and the kids. 

Every now and then he would grip Daniel’s arm or shoulder in horror. Begging for the torture to end. The places where his hand rested stayed warm long after Johnny removed his hand. He is pretty sure the more he drinks, the more Daniel ends up sitting a little closer. 

Spending some easy time with the kids and Johnny made him feel better about the shit situation Miyagi was in. Daniel needed this. The kids also needed it. 

Seeing Robby get along with Sam and Miguel was amazing progress. He wasn’t just the shy boy that came into the restaurant looking for a job. He was also just glad to see them all get along. Sam could have friends when she was staying here and Robby wasn’t a loner anymore. 

As nice as having the kids there was, every now and then Daniel looks over to see Sam, Robby, and Miguel staring at him with mischievous smiles. Knowing he had probably been caught staring at Johnny. Thankfully the man doesn’t seem to notice. 

Eventually Johnny and Daniel head back into the kitchen to start prepping meat and the vegetables for the sides. Letting the kids sit and talk for a while. Daniel notices the box again and slides it over the counter. “What’s this?”

Johnny gives him a sideways smile, gesturing for him to open it. “A surprise. Your kids were in town so I thought we could have a special dessert.”

Inside the box is a cake worthy of French patisserie windows. You can see even the tiny even meticulous layers on the sides, it smells like fresh raspberries and Genoise sponge. The top is finished with a red shiny chocolate and sitting in the middle standing up is a chocolate bonsai tree, one just like the logo for Miyagi.   
  


Daniel is honestly speechless.   
  


“When your restaurant opens I thought you and Robby could have a similar one to celebrate.” Daniel can tell that for some reason Johnny was nervous about the cake. He had no reason to be, people would pay an insane amount for something half as lovely. 

“Johnny this is the most beautiful cake I’ve ever seen!” Daniel can’t even put how the gesture makes him feel into words. He can’t help himself, he pulls the taller man into a hug. “Thanks for making things special for my kids.”

This time Johnny didn’t stiffen up and look at Daniel like he was insane, like at the restaurant supply. He hugs Daniel back. He is warm and it makes Daniel’s guts rearrange. 

“You make stuff special for Robby every day.” Johnny says quietly. “It means a lot.”

“I care about you two.” For some reason, Daniel felt like Johnny needed to hear it. Maybe, that he didn’t hear it enough when he sees those big blue eyes soften like he didn’t understand why Daniel would care. 

After the separate Johnny gives him a warm smile that’s a little higher on one side, giving his shoulder a squeeze. It makes his blue eyes look like the ocean at dusk. It’s Daniel’s favorite smile. Johnny was still pretty. 

They prep for dinner standing basically shoulder to shoulder. Even though Johnny brought some very lovely meat and produce, Daniel was more distracted by the man himself. They had an easy rhythm in the kitchen, he likes the comfortable companionship they built up. But he also wanted this for several decades. Maybe he was just being hopeful. 

When Johnny wasn’t being a weirdly stiff precision machine in the kitchen, he was still a master of his environment. Daniel loves seeing him in this natural element, but it was nicer to cook with him for once. 

When they were still young and at each other’s throats Mr. Miyagi use to remind Daniel that they were more alike than he thought. He was right. Even though in a lot of ways they were almost opposites, they really did have a lot in common. Two halves of a whole.   
  


_Balance_ is the word that comes to mind.   
  


* * *

  
  


Robby and Miguel scramble back into the living room where Sam is after aborting getting soda. Sam laughs at them because she can tell they are busting to tell her something. 

“Where’s my soda?” Sam says with a laugh. 

“No shhh shut up. So we have this bet about your dad and Johnny. They are obviously like, in love and we just caught them hugging and it _wasn’t_ awkward.” Miguel says as fast and as quietly as he possibly can. 

Robby groans and smacks his hands over his face. “You didn’t tell me he made him a cake! I’m gonna loose!”

Sam leans forward and arches an eyebrow. “He made dad a cake? That’s like some rom-com chef movie shit.”

Miguel laughs and pumps his fist, “Hell yeah, I told him a cake was a good idea!” 

Robby hits Miguel with a pillow. “You were meddling!!”

Miguel laughs and shoves the pillow away when it makes contact. Sam thinks that’s hilarious after hearing her dad pine over Johnny for so long so she high five’s Miguel between pillow smacks. 

“That’s my dad’s dream boy.” Sam says with a laugh. Causing Robby to squeal ‘ew’ and fall back on the couch laughing. His dad being someone’s ‘pretty dream boy’ was hilarious. 

As much as Robby made fun of how gross it was, it was nice for them to get along. Mr. LaRusso seemed to make his dad really happy. “Your dad’s dream boy is weird.”

“My dad is weird!” Sam squeals, “Honestly, not a bad combo.” 

They dissolve into laughter, stopping when Daniel comes in to get a book. Eyeing the now suspiciously quiet teens before heading back to the kitchen. Making the three crack up again as soon as he is gone. 

“I wonder if Dad is gonna pass out on the couch again.” Robby says with a chuckle. 

“Again?” Sam replies with raised brows. “They need to stop playing around and date.”

“You should see them texting. It’s sugary.” Miguel laughs. 

“Dad invited Johnny to meet his kids, that sounds like him being serious.” Sam says with a chuckle. “Not near as serious as accidentally adopting Robby.”

It makes them all laugh, it was pretty funny after knowing more about their past. Even if Johnny was super pissed before, things ended up working out really well. Robby likes to think he is drinking less and seems happier with Daniel around. 

Robby didn’t get any real time with his dad until Daniel came along. Now they got to cook together and could talk. After being mostly on his own living with his mom, it was nice to feel like he had family. Like, real family that cared. 

“If I am loosing the bet, we gotta help the clueless dads.” Robby says firmly. 

Miguel laughs and shoves his shoulder. Making Robby smile. “That’s the spirit!”

“Hmn- I have an idea....” Sam says as she poses with her fist under her chin. “So they hang out with you guys around most of the time? Well we can disappear after dinner.”

“That’s not a bad idea. It’s the least awkward that we have seen them. So maybe they will get the picture.” Miguel says frankly. 

“Dad was literally staring at Johnny in a sake lovestruck haze like in a J-drama, they get the picture they are just slow.” Sam snickers. 

“They are as bad as high schoolers.” Robby says with a laugh, causing the other two bust into laughter. 

  
  


* * *

  
  


They get everything set up on some serving trays so they can carry things to the irori hearth. Johnny loved that thing, it felt rustic and reminded him of images of early man cooking over an open flame. Really, the perfect way to cook any protein. 

They even split who made the marinades so they could all be a little different. Daniel always had really interesting flavor combinations that smelled fragrant and decadent. 

He was excited to cook with the kids, but he had to admit that he was also happy to cook with Daniel again. Even though they came from very different culinary corners, they actually work really well side by side. 

Johnny would have to thank Miguel later for the idea of the cake. He was looking at pictures of desserts in Johnny’s phone and told him he should make a cake for Daniel. Seeing his big brown eyes light up and getting a hug were worth it. That’s why he loves cooking. 

Daniel was the only person in 30 years that could remind him why he loved cooking. 

Hell, Daniel gave him a relationship with Robby. Hearing that he cared about both of them really meant a lot to Johnny. He wasn’t used to having someone that actively cared, especially that didn’t have some motive behind it. 

Johnny finds himself watching Daniel stoke the fire of the hearth. The fire casts deep shadows and light up his brown eyes, every now and then he looks up and gives him a smile. Shit, Johnny was in deep. 

After wrangling the kids he had them all choose one beef steak and one other protein. He also brought bison, venison, and alligator to mix it up a little. 

“Gross people don’t eat alligator.” Anthony says with a gag. 

“People eat just about everything kid.” Johnny respond dryly. “Be glad I didn’t bring rodents.”

This makes Anthony yell out and make a disturbed face. The teens all laugh loudly, Sam putting a chunk of alligator meat near Anthony to antagonize him. 

“Ok but please don’t bring rodents.” Daniel says with a laugh. “I don’t think my heart could take raccoon stew.”

“You eat raw meat most days and a little raccoon freaks you out!” Johnny laughs and elbows his side. 

“I have standards, thank you.” Daniel says with a feigned huff, pretending to be perturbed. 

“You hang out with me, standards can’t be too high.” Johnny gives him a wink and the kids snicker. This however seems to bother Daniel a little. 

“You gotta stop being hard on yourself.” Daniel says quietly. 

Johnny isn’t really sure how to react to that. He had been dirtbag chef Johnny for so long, it was easier to joke about how much he sucked. It was a pretty crappy defense mechanism. So he apologizes, that seems to bother Daniel more. 

Daniel hated it, he even hated it in text messages. It never made him laugh, it just kind of made him sad. 

Johnny was well into being used to his circumstances. Sometimes Daniel reminded him how messed up stuff really was, but not in a mean or bad way. Just like he wished stuff was better. It always made him think about all the things that kept him anchored where he was. 

It was different. 

Cooking with the kids is a blast. The teens even get Anthony interested since using the grill over the hearth is pretty fun. Everyone likes grilling, it’s kind of different to grill inside. 

Johnny shows Daniel how to test the temperature of the steak. Holding his hand and moving his fingers to show him the different temperatures. It may have just been a lame attempt at physical contact, but what can he say, he liked being close. 

Daniel didn’t seem to mind much either, letting his hand linger for a little bit. Until they realize they have three teens with insane grins on their faces, watching the exchange. Them knowing was getting annoying. 

“Diaz your meat is going to be dog food.” Johnny says dryly. Chuckling as the boy frantically flips the steak and checks it. 

“It’s fine!” Miguel says with a huff. It makes Sam and Robby laugh. 

They cook their vegetables in a neat grill basket Daniel has, it keeps them in a little cage so you can just flip the whole pan over. Johnny honestly always has a good time digging through his kitchen to see what was there. 

“Ok so maybe grilling is fun, but cooking is still boring.” Sam says between bites. 

Johnny scoffs. “There isn’t anything boring about making dead animals and plants taste good. It’s bad ass.”

Robby laughs. “You put that in the grossest way possible.”

“Alligator is the most delicious dinosaur.” Miguel declares after destroying a huge alligator fillet. 

It was good to see all the kids enjoy cooking and like their meal. Johnny was kind of worried he wouldn’t do great teaching them, but they all did pretty well and seemed to have fun. Miguel was also really good at showing them what to do as well. Johnny let him teach half of the meat. He was good at it.   
  
This was actually the most normal ‘family time’ he had ever had. He didn’t hate it. It wasn’t bad having everyone there, he was pretty solitary normally. But different is good. 

He loved every minute of it. 

As fast as dinner ended, the kids help put the dishes in the sink and declare they are going to Sam’s room to watch a movie. Anthony abandoning them to play games in his room. Now they are left with a mountain of dishes, that wasn’t shocking. 

It wasn’t too bad to stand there with Daniel and finish cleaning up. Every now and then their fingers of hands bumping together. Causing Johnny’s heart to jump into his throat a little. Daniel made him feel like a kid. 

“Thanks for having me over tonight, this was fun.” It didn’t feel like good enough thanks really. Daniel has done a lot for him lately. He wasn’t good enough with words to really tell him what that meant. 

“I had a great time. I’m glad you came.” Daniel gives him a soft smile, toweling off his hands. “Want to watch the great British Bake off?”

“What is that?” Johnny laughs. 

“It’s the most soothing cooking competition ever. You are gonna love it.” Daniel laughs and grabs Johnny by his wrist and drags him into the living room. 

This time instead of them sitting on opposite sides of the couch, Daniel sits next to him. Folding his legs underneath him and fishing out the remote. Their thighs pressed together as he pulls up Netflix and drags a blanket off of the back of the couch. It should have been weird, but Johnny finds himself way more comfortable with the proximity than he expected. 

The show is actually pretty good. He likes the challenges and the judges are sometimes hilariously harsh. They debate on what they would make if given the challenge and critique the choices the contestants make. Daniel is right it’s a good low impact competition show. 

Halfway through the second episode Johnny realizes that he has his arm slung behind Daniel’s shoulders. Not just that, but Daniel is lightly pressed to his side. He didn’t even realize that happened, but it’s pretty cozy. 

Daniel’s cologne smells fancy and he is warm, it gets a little harder to focus on the show. Johnny didn’t have anyone to curl up with and watch bad TV, it was really nice. 

By the third episode Daniel has his head resting on Johnny’s shoulder and he is curled up against him firmly. Johnny has dropped his arm over his shoulders rubbing back and fourth every now and then, letting him lean into him as he pleased.   
  


_Ok fuck, he was just in love.  
  
  
_

He hasn’t ever been in love with his best friend before. This was different. Being around Daniel was comforting in a way Johnny hasn’t ever seen. Looking down at his soft features and feeling him curled up close was everything. 

He leans his cheek against the top of Daniel’s head for a while. Trying to untangle the knot of emotions in his gut. He doesn’t move until he feels Daniel look up at him. 

“You ok?” Daniel asks quietly, like he would disturb their peace if he spoke any louder. 

“Yeah... I’m great.” He gives Daniel a small smile and gets one in return. 

Damn, he really loved that smile. Daniel’s sweet concern was a little too much for Johnny’s tangled up emotions. 

So he takes a gamble, slipping his hand to cradle the back of Daniel’s neck, threading his fingers through his soft hair and he presses a chaste kiss to his lips. 

What Johnny didn’t expect is Daniel to slip his arms around his neck and kiss him back. Daniel kisses him breathless. It’s desperate and messy and absolutely perfect. 

When they separate Daniel’s big brown eyes are tender and his mouth is delightfully red. He is in a daze, completely under Daniel’s spell. He’s also smiling, Johnny doesn’t realize it but he is smiling back. 

“I’ve wanted to do that since 1984.” Daniel says with a laugh, pressing another kiss to the corner of Johnny’s lips. 

Johnny can feel his ears and neck heat up. The idea Daniel liked him that long seemed wrong, but he had to admit it kind of made him happy too. 

“Think I could take you out sometime?” Even though they just kissed Johnny was still nervous to ask him on a date, he was a child. 

“I’d be mad if you didn’t.” Daniel says with a clear musical laugh that makes Johnny’s heart sing. 

He leans in to give him another kiss, Johnny wraps him up to pull him into his arms better. Finally giving in and snuggling up properly. Ok, that was way better than just sitting together. 

Daniel’s smaller body fits perfectly curled up in Johnny’s arms. Head resting on his chest so he can still see the show, hand resting on Johnny’s chest. He looks relaxed, dark lashes lowered over half lidded Bambi eyes as he watches the flickering screen, quite frankly very cute. 

Johnny was happy. They had a great night with the kids and now he gets to curl up with someone he really cared about. It seemed like some kind of nice dream his brain came up with. 

As he strokes through Daniel’s hair, barely paying attention to Lady Mary Berry and Paul Hollywood’s critiques at this point, he feels lucky. He didn’t want to mess this up. Daniel meant more to him than any of his very messed up past of what people may not even call relationships.

It just cemented that things needed to keep changing.   
  


They fall asleep during one of the episodes, Daniel’s face tucked into Johnny’s neck and Johnny soothed by the weight of him. Arms wrapped around Daniel’s back beneath the blanket.   
  


Maybe things would be okay. 


	9. Agrodolce

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Daniel and Johnny go on their first date and spend time with the kids. They also finally get some alone time...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> FINALLY some smut! Sorry This took so long to post, I’ve been struggling w some of my writing. How are you guys? Your comments fuel me ;A;
> 
> Let me know what you think!
> 
> Next time: what the fuck are the evil husbands up too? How will Johnny fare around high class chefs? What did Miguel even win in the bet??

Agrodolce(n.)- Produced by reducing sweet and sour elements. The name is derived from the Italian words “agro” and “dolce”.

Sam gets up after 4am to get a glass of water. She notices her dad’s room is empty and his bed is still made. She finds him out cold curled up on top of Johnny on the couch, Netflix asking if they were still watching Great British bake off.

Sam takes a picture with her phone and texts it to her mom. Knowing she would think it’s hilarious that she was right. She was the first one to point out Daniel was trying to get Johnny’s attention, ‘courting him’ were her words. (The food processor was clue number one.)

She sneaks back to her room, putting the glass down and jumping to lay across the still sleeping Miguel and Robby’s stomachs. Causing the boys to groan and cough, woken up violently being slammed with her weight.

“Sammmm it’s too early for that I’m gonna barf!” Miguel whines.

“Guess who are snuggled up soundly sleeping together on the couch?!” She says, rolling off of them with a laugh.

“Nuh-uh.” Robby says in disbelief, rubbing the sleep from his eyes.

“Yah-huh. My dad is using Johnny like a mattress.” Sam snickers.

Miguel throws his hands up from where he is laying onto the pillows. “I win!”

Sam laughs. “The plan worked.” She gets back into the spot where she was sleeping. “So what do you win anyway?”

“We never really figured it out.” Miguel snickers.

“Well when you figure out what you win, wake me up.” Robby says and rolls back over, causing the other two to laugh.

* * *

  
  


Daniel wakes up slow, it takes him a minute to realize he fell asleep laying on Johnny. The man’s arms are still around Daniel’s waist, it was comforting and way better than daydreaming about snuggling with him. It was a really lovely way to wake up after months of sleeping alone, even if they just passed out on the couch.

Johnny still being asleep was a miracle in its own right. Daniel can’t help admiring his features, he has a peaceful soft expression that he never has when he is awake. Blond lashes dusting his high cheekbones, hair ruffled wildly like a golden halo.

Johnny really was still pretty.

It takes Johnny a while to wake up, letting go of a soft rumbling groan as he comes around. Turning his head to nuzzle into Daniel’s hair, giving his waist a squeeze and stretching his legs under them.

Daniel reaches up to pet through Johnny’s ruffled hair. “Morning.” He says quietly, not wanting to disturb the peace.

“M’ning, what time is it?” He grumbles roughlyagainst Daniel’s neck, rubbing up and down his spine in lazy nonsensical patterns.

“9:43.” Daniel laughs when he hears Johnny groan.

“You made me oversleep.” Johnny’s frank statement makes him laugh harder.

“Robby is right, you are insane.” He snickers, “you don’t even work today!”

Johnny laughs at that. Giving Daniel’s back some more firm scratches between the petting. Really, it’s making Daniel melt into a warm puddle. “Eh- I guess you made sleeping in not so bad.” He gives Daniel his famous smart-ass smirk.

Accept this time, Daniel can kiss it off of his face. They let the kiss linger, when they separate Johnny’s big sapphire eyes look impossibly soft. Daniel can’t even put into words what it felt like to have him look at you that way.

“You did dinner, I was thinking I’d make breakfast.” Daniel presses another soft kiss to the corner of his lips, mostly just because he could.

“Nah, lets cook together.”

Daniel won’t lie, that makes his heart sing. It makes him happy that he likes cooking together. They made a pretty good team in the kitchen. After years of crushing on him as a chef and just a man, it felt amazing to really cook side by side. Not just in competition.

Johnny was Daniel’s first major male crush and his first chef crush. No matter what Johnny thought of himself, he still saw how talented and gifted he was. It would always make him happy when Johnny wanted to cook together.

They take their time before actually moving to get up. Trading lazy soft kisses seemed more urgent at the moment. A dream way to spend a lazy morning off.

Daniel finally decides to get up, taking Johnny’s hand to help him up. Johnny stays close and Daniel leans his forehead against his shoulder. Johnny slips one of his arms around his waist and they just stand there for a minute. He is pretty glad Johnny is tolerant of his touchy-feely tendencies, possibly even seemed to like it.

The touching didn’t end when they get into the kitchen. Cooking with Johnny was way better when he was into you. He always figured that he wasn’t a particularly affectionate man, this was a time Daniel was glad to be wrong.

Every now and then he spreads one of his big warm hands over Daniel’s lower back or wraps his arm around his shoulders so they can lean into each other while they work. Johnny make crepes and fries some bacon while Daniel makes Omelettes. It was a peaceful morning.

While Daniel finishes up the Omelettes, Johnny cuts fruit for inside the crepes. He hears the knife stop and the man says ‘hey.’Daniel looks up, after his attention is off of the pan, Johnny leans in to steal a kiss. It’s soft and almost reverent.

When they separate Johnny gives him that little shy sideways smile that he loves. There wasn’t much about him that Daniel didn’t love. Even some of the annoying parts grew on him.

Waking up and cooking together really cements just how much Daniel loves him. It made the house feel like home, especially with the kids there too. Johnny made everything feel a little more complete, it was a good feeling.

Eventually the kids get up, being lured by the smell of bacon. Daniel has to keep Anthony from eating leftovers of the cake for breakfast. The teens are staring at them like grinning maniacs, obviously aware that something is different between the adults.

Daniel is at least glad they aren’t mad that they want to be together, it could be worse.

Daniel was really not looking forward to starting love over new after the divorce. He stressed out about it. Starting over in love at his age sounded like a right pain in the ass. This happened without them forcing it, too much. Now it just felt like his family was bigger. It was nice.

“Gross, stop touching my dad old man.” Anthony says as he adds ketchup to his omelette. Sam tells him to shut up, but it makes Miguel and Robby laugh.

Daniel groans, ok it was still going to be a little annoying. What he didn’t expect was Johnny spooning up behind him to wrap his arms around Daniel’s waist and stick his tongue out at Anthony over his shoulder. Making the boy gag and cover his eyes.

It makes Daniel and the teenagers crack up. That was the Johnny he remembers from high school.

They make the rest of the plates for the kids and finally sit down to eat. Daniel loved having the kids home, including Robby and Miguel. He likes to think that Mr. Miyagi would be happy to have them all spending family time here over a meal.

“I was thinking we could pack a lunch and go to the beach today.” Daniel says between bites.

“Are we gonna make onigiri?” Sam pipes up, it seems to get Robby’s attention. Since it is one of his favorite bento items.

“We have some steak left over, that’s probably good in a rice ball.” Johnny offers.

“Oh wait, steak rice ball? Shit, That should be on you guy’s menu.” Miguel says as he tries to picture it.

“You and Robby can make some as a test when we make lunch then.” It was actually a pretty good ideal. Daniel likes getting ideas from Johnny and the kid’s, they had a unique perspective.

“You shouldn’t have eaten the last of the alligator.” Robby says to Miguel with a laugh, causing Miguel to groan in misery over missing out on alligator onigiri.

“We can try other days with other meat, don’t you worry.” Daniel tells them with a laugh.

Sam, Miguel, and Robby help clean up breakfast dishes, so they can help with lunch. Anthony abandoning them to play a game.

Daniel is glad Sam seems to want to help cook with them, she use to cook more with him when she was younger. Now it was like pulling teeth to get her to cook with him, but that’s teenagers. However Robby and Miguel’s enthusiasm can be pretty infectious.

Cooking has always been about family for Daniel, even before he knew how to cook. Family always came together in the kitchen and around food. It was part of showing love and appreciation for each other. It was nice to be able to share that with Johnny.

Mr. Miyagi always said that cooking for family was the most important meal you cook. As his kids get older, it rings more true.

* * *

  
  


Johnny Lawrence wasn’t famous for long relationships, let alone relationships where you wake up together and cook for the kids. It had always been easier to be in someone’s orbit for sex then to have someone be around all the not-so-great stuff about himself. This time he wanted it to work. So all of this was really different.

Hell, being with Daniel was different. He looks at Johnny with those big soft brown doe eyes and he is immediately under his spell. He may be a little stuck on Daniel’s admission to wanting to kiss since the 80’s.

Johnny didn’t want this to be another fling he messes up by being thoroughly himself. Daniel meant something to him and Robby.Daniel was the only reason he had a relationship with his son, he didn’t want to mess up Robby having someone who cares.

Daniel giving them a chance meant a lot. Johnny wasn’t exactly a prize, so it was a mild wake up call. If he had to keep changing to make things work, he was going to try his damndest.

Being able to have ‘family’ time with the kids and Daniel felt like the closest thing to a real family Johnny had. As someone that spent most of the time just going through the motions of life, it was nice to feel significant. Daniel made him feel at home.

How do you even thank someone for helping you out of the darkest part of your life? Or giving you a relationship with your son? Daniel did a lot for Johnny and he had no idea how to show him what that meant.

He would have to think of something.

While they cook for the picnic, Daniel stays close. Brushing shoulders or hands every now and then, it was definitely a time when he didn’t mind someone being in his personal space. He likes that whenever he touches his back or wraps an arm around him, Daniel leans into the touch.

Daniel is particularly affectionate, it wasn’t something Johnny was use to either. It was actually kind of nice to have someone give you affection so freely. He has to admit that he kind of loves it. It was hard not to get sucked in by big chocolate Bambi eyes and his sweet smile.

Robby and Miguel getting along with Sam also made this feel more like family time. Sam even decided to help with lunch, he can tell that made Daniel happy too.

Spending days off like this with the kids and someone who cared, still felt a little surreal. He wasn’t sitting at home alone in his shit apartment drinking alone. It felt unbelievable to feel like he belonged somewhere.

After they finish their little menagerie of onigiri, Johnny starts fried potato croquettes and Daniel makes a fancy salad.

“You have pretty good knife cuts Sam, why don’t you cook more?” Johnny notices that she was really accurate like her dad.

“I’m not as intuitive about it as you guys. It’s way more fun to take photos of food and eat.” She says with a laugh.

“It’s just following directions.” Miguel says frankly, it makes Johnny laugh. Because the kid had a natural ability to season and cook, he definitely wasn’t just following directions.

“Alright Miguel, so you can explain to her how you pour and season marinades with no measuring?” Johnny says with a laugh.

“Ok, so maybe it’s a little more than just following a recipe.” Miguel says after giving up trying to figure out how to explain.

“Told ya. Sam you should try baking with us. Sometimes people that hate cooking like baking.” Johnny offers. She agrees and the boys explain how they got to beat butter up with rolling pins. Their excitement was an easy way to get her to agree. It seems to make Daniel happy to get her more involved.

They cut up honeydew and a watermelon to take as well. The kids pick some snacks and drinks together. Packing everything up in some fancy handwoven Japanese picnic basket Daniel has. He always has some neat special thing to use for any occasion, it was cute.

Daniel in general is cute.

Johnny still wasn’t quite used to all of Daniel’s sunshine-y energy directed towards him. He literally use to hate it, like Daniel’s sweet nature mocked him on all levels. Now he realized he probably hated so much it because it was never directed towards him.

When they were younger it was only sarcastic jabs, sneers, and mocking grins that he got from Daniel. Everyone else got his warm sweet funny side. So what if Johnny was a little jealous.

Johnny was exactly what he was taught to be, a mean loud demanding French chef. And it sucks. It sucked then and it sucks now. He can more easily relate to a piece of dead meat than people. Daniel was the complete opposite.

It made sense that he was good at being a TV chef, he related to people easy and he was charming. It was kind of cool that none of the warmth or kind spirit was fake. It was just Daniel being Daniel.

Johnny won’t lie, the idea of having a famous TV chef boyfriend was a lot. Daniel’s ex wife was some producer or something for Food network. Johnny was still.... himself. That kind of terrifies him. He still wasn’t any good at relationships.

He just has to remember that change has been good as a whole. Uncomfortable sometimes, but it is good. This was definitely way better than drinking alone in his depression hole of an apartment, he just had to make sure not to mess it up.

Easier said than done.

He had a hard time worrying about it right now. Daniel and the kids seemed to be good distractions from his depressive thoughts in general. The past few weeks he had even spent less on beer, instead falling asleep texting Daniel about recipes or talking about nothing.

They pack up the cars, Sam takes the kids in her car and Johnny rides with Daniel in the Audi. It’s a nice car, but he is pretty distracted by Daniel. They sing REO speedwagon on the ride and Johnny gets to steal a kiss at a red light.

After they get to the beach and park, they pull out the cooler and basket with their food and the rest of the stuff from the trunk. Sam pulls up not long after. Anthony instantly getting out in a huff.

“Sam’s new boyfriends SUCK!” Anthony yells. 

“Language Anthony. Now what happened?” Daniel asks exasperatedly. Anthony Just shoves past him towards the beach.

Sam, Miguel, and Robby get out of the car cracking up. “He is mad we said we would be around more because you guys are a thing.” Miguel says between laughs.

Johnny rolls his eyes, ok so at least Sam likes him well enough. Anthony didn’t seem to care for any of them. He definitely had Daniel’s bad attitude, that was pretty funny. Especially when Daniel talked about how Robby reminds him of Johnny. He thinks Sam is more like Daniel, she even smiles like her dad and they had similar laughs.

It just makes Daniel laugh. “He will get over it.” He insists, elbowing Johnny in the side. “Come on help me find a good spot.”

The get blankets and towels put down and the umbrella put up while the kids help arrange everything. The teens immediately get down to swimsuits and go to play in the surf. Anthony finds a spot to play his Nintendo switch as far away from the teens as he can get.

Johnny lays down on the blanket beneath the umbrella with a satisfied groan. This was a nice easy way to spend a day off. Daniel sits down next to him and passes him a beer from the cooler. Johnny just looks at him as he watches the kids for a minute.

This was the same beach Daniel sucker punched him in the face. That feels like a million years ago now. Now he is openly mooning over Daniel, unable to remember what it was like to hate him. He didn’t want to remember.

Especially not after Daniel leans over to give him a soft lingering kiss. Johnny pulls him down so they can lay there together, arm wrapped around his waist to keep him close.

“Next week I have to go to some food network party in LA. You should come with me.” Daniel asks offhandedly. It makes Johnny laugh, there was no way he would fit in with any of those people. They also have been dating for less than a day, Johnny hasn’t had a chance to show off some of his more obnoxious traits yet. Those seem to chase most of anyone off.

“That Sounds pretty high brow, I dunno. You can’t have me embarrassing you in front of your work colleagues.” It earns him a slap on the center of his chest and a fussy look from Daniel.

“You act like you don’t work in a three star restaurant. Hell, some of the network chefs didn’t even professionally train like you did.” It seemed to bother Daniel more than Johnny expected, but he honestly thought there was no way he would gel with high society chefs.

“Does this mean I need a new suit?” Johnny says with an exasperated sigh.

That seems to make Daniel happy again. Earning him a kiss on the cheek and a squeeze. “I’ll get you one.”

“You need to stop buyin’ me stuff LaRusso.” Johnny says with an eye roll.

“Oh hell no, you aren’t going back to last names. You call me Daniel right now.” Daniel says with mock anger. It makes Johnny laugh, he wasn’t the only one that noticed he didn’t just say his last name anymore.

“Ok ok, I’m sorry. Stop buyin’ me stuff, Daniel.”Johnny chuckles out.

“Nope.” Is all that Daniel says, pillowing his head back on Johnny’s shoulder. Him being stubborn definitely didn’t change.

After wearing themselves out in the water the kids come back to shore to eat. Sam wrings her hair out over Miguel and Robby’s heads because they made it back faster. Causing them to shriek and complain. Daniel calls Anthony over after they get all the food taken out and is passing out plates.

It was nice to spend time with the kids together. Johnny has really warmed up to the idea of family time. He never gave it much thought, but it was growing on him. It was especially nice to see Robby accepted by people and happy.

If anything Robby deserves a family like this. Daniel swooped in and helped make him feel included seamlessly. He is pretty sure Daniel has been a better parent to Robby than Johnny and Shannon combined. It was one of the long list of things that Johnny really loves about Daniel.

They spend an hour after eating playing volley ball.Then Daniel and Johnny spend some time walking around the surf while the kids get in the water one more time.

Daniel wiggles Johnny’s hand out of his pocket so he can hold it while they walk. Johnny just laughs and gives his hand a squeeze. Daniel looks pretty with the sun getting lower, light making his skin glow and his big brown eyes sparkle.

“You trust a buncha Kids alone in your house enough for me to take out out to dinner tonight?” Johnny says with a smirk.

Daniel practically beams at that. “Where are we going?” His silly Jersey accent dripping off of the words, he was just made of sunshine.

“Uh-uh. That’s a surprise.” Johnny proclaims firmly. “Don’t dress too fancy.”

Daniel laughs and shoves his shoulder with his own. “Ok, I guess I can wait if it’s a surprise.”

Before they head back down the beach to pack the car and round up the kids Daniel pulls him down into a soft kiss. His hand resting at the back of Johnny’s neck to keep him close. Holding him close and the soft exchange felt like magic.

He needed this to work out. 

* * *

To say Daniel was nervous and excited about their first date was an understatement. He had been into Johnny for so long and the whole day did nothing but stir up all of his feeling for the man. Seeing him be sweet with the kids and just spending time together just made the tangle of feelings bigger.

Johnny just needed a real chance to be a dad and some better circumstances. Seeing him be a good loving dad, did stuff to Daniel’s heart he can’t explain. He was a good man, he just needed a chance.

Daniel would really like that chance to be with him and his family. Robby was already one of his kids and Miguel was very quickly becoming one as well. He felt like they belonged with his family.

Apparently Sam has told Amanda that they are a thing and are going on a date tonight. She texted him some large congratulations and told him not to be a spaz. She expects a rundown of the date. Honestly, it makes him laugh.

**Daniel** : I invited Johnny to the FN party in LA

**Amanda** : WOAH, you are bringing pretty boy Johnny around the execs? I cannot WAIT to meet him.

**Daniel** : please be nice to him

**Amanda** : I’m always nice c:

He decides to deal with that later, because he knows Amanda is ready to grill Johnny and make him uncomfortable in a mostly hilarious way.

For the moment he is trying to figure out what Johnny meant by ‘don’t dress fancy.’ Wondering where they could be going. He decides on a navy button up, jeans, and a blue bomber jacket.

By the time he heads out to the living room Johnny is ordering dinner for the kids as they all yell out what they want at the same time to confuse him. Once he is done he tells them that they are all ‘menaces.’ Making them crack up and throw couch pillows at him.

“The monsters will be fed. Now the rules. No parties beyond the humans in this room. No breaking shit. And absolutely do not put each other in the hospital.” Johnny says firmly.

It makes Daniel laughs, honestly not a bad set of rules. “If anything happens just call. You guys will be good.”

Sam pats Miguel and Robby on their heads. “Don’t worry dad I’ll make sure they are good.” The boys shove her hands away.

“So says trouble!” Miguel says with a laugh.

“You two shut up, we are just gonna watch movies.” Robby chuckles.

Johnny eyes them suspiciously but Daniel is pretty sure they will behave. They are all good kids and the most they will have to do is make sure Anthony doesn’t eat cake for dinner. He gives Sam a hug before they say goodbye.

Then Johnny declares they need to pick something up from his apartment. When he parks the Audi, Johnny runs into his apartment. He returns with two motorcycle helmets and a grin on his face.

“Ready to take a ride?” Johnny says as he hands him the helmet.

Johnny was always full of surprises.

Johnny had since upgraded his motorbike that Daniel remembered from high school to a sleek black Triumph motorcycle.It had gold accent stripes down the gas tank. A very beautiful machine.

Johnny gets on and puts on his helmet and waits for Daniel. He has to admit, getting on the back of the bike and wrapping his arms around Johnny made him feel like a kid again. This was like some daydream that high school Daniel came up with, it was sweet and spontaneous.

Daniel is always glad to have an excuse to hold onto Johnny anyway. The engine revs up and he reflexively squeezes the man tighter, he can feel Johnny chuckle and he gives one of Daniel’s hands a squeeze before he heads out towards the street.

The whole ride was down the coast, so they got to see the last of the sunset as they fly down the road. Daniel rests his cheek on Johnny’s back most of the ride, watching the brilliant colors of the skyline bleed down into the darkened sea. Johnny is warm and feels good pressed close. Really, it was all rather romantic.

They end up at a little restaurant that is on a small dock. ‘Joie de vivre’ is the name of the place, Daniel had never been here, but it was also about 45 minutes away.

“This is the best Cajun seafood in California.” Johnny says as he takes off his helmet.

Daniel presses a kiss to his cheek and gives him a squeeze before dismounting the bike. “That sounds amazing. I’ve never been here.”

He was always excited to eat at a small eatery recommended by chefs. Especially when he knew they had a good palate. Daniel couldn’t have asked for a better first date.

The owner instantly recognizes Johnny and gives them a table near the windows so they can see and hear the ocean. The man spoke excitedly in a very thick Cajun accent about their specials and shook Daniel’s hand very firmly after giving him a hug. He gave the entire experience a warm homey feel. It all oozed southern charm.

“Sorry about Alber, he is very friendly.” Johnny says with a laugh when the man goes to get them drinks and bread.

“He is great, this whole place is great.” Daniel chuckles. “Thanks for bringing me.”

“Thank me after you eat.” Johnny gives him a wink before taking a sip of his beer.

They order crab cakes, crawfish étouffée, blackened catfish, and shrimp and grits. Everything is packed with seasoning and fresh from the water. You could tell that everything was made with passion and love. Johnny wasn’t kidding, this place was a true hidden gem.

He loved being able to talk about the food and just talk about nothing with Johnny. They had somehow become such easy company, it didn’t even feel like their first date anymore. Daniel still found himself smiling the whole time, most of the time Johnny smiles back. His sapphire eyes look like ocean under the darkened lights of the dining area.

When they are done they thank Alber, who insists excitedly that they return soon. Daniel promises they will, besides he wants to try the rest of the menu. Sam, Miguel, and Robby would probably love this place.

Before they get on the motorcycle Daniel pulls Johnny into a hug, loving the gentle smile on the man’s face when he looks down at him. “Thanks for taking me here. This was amazing.”

Johnny pets through Daniel’s hair and presses a kiss to his lips. “Thanks for coming out with me.” He says softly, almost reverently. Like he was worried Daniel wouldn’t have a good time.

They stand there in the parking lot and just trade soft kisses for a few minutes. Like neither wanted to separate or it was more urgent than getting home at the moment. When they finally do get on the bike Danielcurls up to Johnny the best he can. Rubbing his chest and stomach softly as they ride back.

Thankfully when they get back home the kids are in their rooms. Daniel grabs a bottle of sake and a glass and drags Johnny off to his room. Johnny doesn’t seem to mind being dragged around at the moment.

As soon as he gets his door shut Johnny is pressed against his back, laying a line of kisses along the back of his neck. Daniel practically purrs, pressing back into his firm body for a minute. Johnny had one of his big hands spread across Daniel’s chest, making a low noise into his skin that makes him shiver.

Daniel turns around so he can shove Johnny back against the bed, leaving him smiling down at big wide blue eyes and an adorably shocked expression. He crawls over Johnny with the bottle still in his hand, pressing their hips together and ravaging his mouth.

They both dive into the kiss like they are starving for it. In some ways, Daniel really was, Johnny had always been untouchable. Now he was moaning into Daniel’s mouth as their tongues explored. Johnny gropes Daniel’s ass with his big hands and he can’t help the sounds the come out of his own mouth.

Daniel was helpless for this. He couldn’t get enough of Johnny fast enough. Daniel sneaks one of his hands up the man’s shirt, good lord he really did still work out. But the way the man arches into his touch is almost too much.

Like he was needy for Daniel’s touch.

Freeing Johnny of the shirt was his first task, still rolling their hips together eagerly. Leaving a trail of wet kisses and nips along the man’s clavicles. Johnny buries one of his hands in Daniel’s hair and tugs, causing him to moan and gasp. Daniel grinds a little harder while he made a greedy mess of bruises along his very lovely sculpted chest.

Johnny is much more noisy than Daniel expects, normally he is the one making most of the racket. Hearing Johnny curse and moan under his breath trying to keep quiet, for lack of a better word, it drives Daniel crazy.

There was something about making your very macho dream boy a moaning writhing mess that hits different.

Eventually Johnny yanks Daniel up by his hair so he can ravage his mouth. Nipping at his lower lip and kissing them both breathless.

Johnny fumbles with the buttons on Daniel’s shirt one handedly while they trade sloppy desperate kisses. Eventually they have to break apart enough for him to actually get it off. While he does that, Daniel takes it upon himself to latch onto Johnny’s neck.

Once free of the offensive shirt, Johnny chucks it away and immediately has his hands on Daniel’s skin. As many times as he imagined those big warm hands, this was way better than just fantasy. He is also distracted by the almost growling moan Johnny lets go of when he pulls them closer together.

“Fuck, Your skin is soft baby.” Johnny rumbles out before dragging his nails up his back softly, causing Daniel to shiver.

Daniel arches into wherever those big warm hands wander. Johnny watches him with heavily lidded stormy eyes, every now and then leaning up to steal a kiss or leave a mark on his throat. Every time the man moans or gasps, it sends little electric shocks down Daniel’s spine.

“I want you.” Daniel gasps out, it sounds as desperate as he is in the moment. This makes Johnny let go of a animalistic growl, groping Daniel’s ass and thighs as he sucks a mark onto his shoulder. 

The look on the man’s face when he comes up to kiss Daniel is enough to make him weak. Eyes dark with desire like a man desperate for water.

Johnny gropes him and in one fluid motion he is on top of Daniel, grinding down against him while he ravages his mouth. Sucking lewdly on his lower lip. He is suddenly glad the kids rooms are on the other side of the house.

After some desperate rutting, Johnny starts kissing down Daniel’s chest. Hands finding the sensitive parts of his ribs, making his gasp and wiggle beneath him. Feeling his warm lips kiss around his navel was almost too much.

Johnny does them both a favor and helps Daniel get his jeans off, as well as removing his own. Johnny is gorgeous. He took really good care of his body and he just looks beautiful. Daniel can’t even help leaning up to capture his lips again. Letting his hands grope the man’s hips.

Daniel digs up a bottle of lube from the nightstand while Johnny returns to kissing down below his navel, caressing his thighs and getting a plethora of breathy sounds out of Daniel. His cock throbs every time his lovely pink mouth gets closer.

Johnny’s hands greedily explore his legs, even giving his feet a soft squeeze. Then he looks straight up at Daniel while he presses a wet lipped kiss to the weeping tip of his cock. Those blue eyes and his kiss reddened mouth were absolutely too much.

Daniel reaches out to stroke through Johnny’s hair, getting a soft rumbling moan around the crown of his cock. It makes him whine shamelessly. Johnny had no idea what he did to him.

Johnny presses wet lipped kisses down the length of his shaft, causing it to throb and twitch. Watching Johnny Lawrence worship his cock was a LOT. Daniel bites his lip and tugs at his hair softly, getting an open mouthed gasp around the underside of his cock.

“Oh god, Johnny. Your mouth is so good.” What Daniel didn’t expect is the praise to practically make Johnny’s eyes roll back. His only response is taking the head of his cock into his warm wet mouth, lapping and suckling lewdly around the crown.

While Daniel practically falls apart watching Johnny work down the length of his shaft, he feels gentle wet prodding. He spreads his legs a little wider, caressing Johnny’s scalp and giving him breathy moaning praise. 

Getting fingered open gently by your dream boy while he sloppily sucks over you cock, for lack of better words was mind blowing. Johnny apparently likes to take his sweet time, not that Daniel minded one bit. By the time he is ready, he is a shaking whining mess.

“Johnny please-“ Daniel chokes out, bouncing down against his thick fingers eagerly.

Johnny comes off of his cock with a lewd wet pop, wiping off the spit from his chin on the back of his hand. Pouring more lube into his hand to slick himself up, Daniel watches with large desperate eyes.

Daniel loves the look on Johnny’s face, pupils blown to make his eyes look like stormy seas. He feels the blunt head grind against his hole teasingly, he moans and pulls Johnny down for a messy desperate kiss.

When Johnny finally presses past the ring of muscle they both let go of a strangled moan. Daniel reaching out to grips the tops of Johnny’s thighs to ground himself.

“Oh fuck baby, that’s so damn good.” Johnny gasps out, letting himself slowly sink into Daniel completely. Stopping to get his wits together when he finally bottoms out.

Daniel’s thighs shake when he feels him press against his prostate slowly. He grips and claws at Johnny’s chest, cock weeping against his stomach with every little movement. He can feel Johnny’s cock throb deep when he touches or gropes him.

Daniel wraps his legs around Johnny’s hips and pulls him down into a desperate messy kiss. When he starts to stir his hips, rolling his hips as deep as he can get, Daniel is a moaning slutty mess.

Johnny starts painfully slow, drawing out until just the tip rests past the entrance. Then presses in just as slow, it drives Daniel insane. He finds himself pressing back eagerly, desperate for more. Clenching around him with every thrust.

“Hmn- Johnny, don’t stop.” Daniel breathes out, groping Johnny ass with one hand and the other resting at the back of Johnny’s neck to keep him close. Johnny has a beautiful almost dreamy look in his eyes.

That seems to be enough for Johnny, pulling out to give him a more firm thrust. Making Daniel practically quake beneath him. He gropes one of Daniel’s thighs and chases every little sound Daniel makes, fucking into him eagerly now.

Daniel can’t even contain himself, fucking back against his strokes, cock weeping freely between their stomachs. He lets go of a filthy stream of praise and shameless begging. It seems to light a fire in Johnny.

When he starts to get close, shaking and rocking down on Johnny’s long cock. At this point practically sobbing with every thrust against his prostate. Johnny seems to notice he is falling apart, gripping Daniel’s cock with a lube slicked hand. Rocking his hips into Daniel with wild abandon.

“Cum for me baby.” Johnny gasps against his mouth.

Hearing that is enough to push Daniel right over the edge. Rocking desperately between his cock and hand, tugging at his hair and clawing at his chest.

His orgasm hits like a Mac truck.

Moaning out Johnny’s name in a broken gasp as he paints their stomachs and his hand with ropes of hot cum. Convulsing and griping at Johnny desperately. It only takes a few more firm thrusts for Johnny to follow.

The look on Johnny’s face when he cums is almost angelic. Hearing him moan his name and seeing him loose control was beautiful.

Even though they are out of breath and half out of their minds, Johnny leans down to give Daniel soft kisses between panting. Daniel pulls him down to lay on top of him while they catch their breath in the warm afterglow.

Daniel strokes up and down Johnny’s back while they come down. Johnny is practically purring beneath his hands, the weight of him is comforting. At this point, it’s confirmed he is just helpless for this man.

Once they have enough wits about them, Daniel grabs his shirt from the floor and cleans the mess he made of the two of them. Johnny stays close, curling back up on top of Daniel when he is done.

Daniel pulls up the covers over them and gives Johnny a kiss. Wrapping his arms around him and giving him a squeeze once they get cozy.

“You’re too good to me Danny.” Johnny says quietly in the serene moment. Petting through his dark hair.

It makes Daniel smile and nuzzle against Johnny’s cheek. How was he so incredibly sweet beneath all the hard edges?

“You deserve to be treated good.” Daniel says earnestly. Johnny’s eyes have a shy sadness, like he wasn’t quite sure if it was true.

He didn’t argue, he just curls into Daniel a little heavier. Daniel rubs his back in nonsensical patterns while they drift off to sleep.

All Daniel can think about is how much he loves this man. He just wished that Johnny thought he deserved love. It was painful to think he really didn’t think he was good enough.

Having him here felt like home.

* * *

  
Waking up naked is someone else’s bed was never a good thing for Johnny Lawrence. Until today. Seeing Daniel’s peaceful sleeping face, hair ruffled out of its normal perfect coif, just made him happy. If anything it just made him want to stay in bed with his little warm body curled up close.

Last night was almost like some stupidly sexy dream his perverted brain came up with. More than that... it just reinforced exactly how much he was in love with Daniel LaRusso.

Daniel made him feel _loved_.

For someone who didn’t have doting or affectionate family and a horrible track record for relationships; it was hard to explain how it made him feel. It felt almost unreal. He didn’t realize exactly how much he just yearned for someone who really cared.

Even just the affectionate touching made him see how damned starved he was for real affection. As sad as that was, Daniel treated him like he was everything. Seeing him smile all night on their date made him want to do the same. Daniel was everything.

No one ever treated Johnny like that. He still wasn’t sure how to handle it sometimes. All he knew was, he would be really fucked up of he messed this up. Even just the idea of Daniel pushing him away hurt. His insecurities felt like opened wounds after letting his guard down for real.

Even if he was worried he would mess it all up, just watching Daniel’s angelic face and feeling him curled up close made him feel better. He wanted this to work more than anything.

Daniel loves his son, hell he treated his son like his own. He had somehow become such a big part of Johnny and Robby’s lives, he wanted to keep it that way. Daniel gave him a real relationship with his son and tore Johnny out of the darkest part of his life. Daniel didn’t understand the magnitude of what he had done for them.

That was half of his charm.

Daniel wakes slowly, giving Johnny a bleary eyed smile. Reaching up to rest a hand at his neck, caressing Johnny’s jaw with his thumb. “Hey.” He says quietly.

It just makes Johnny smile, Daniel was impossibly sweet. He presses a kiss to his forehead and rubs Daniel’s back softly. “Hey yourself, beautiful.”

That gets the most lovely half lidded doe eyed smile out of him. Daniel leans up to give him a soft lingering kiss. Really, if he could wake up like this forever, he would in a heartbeat.

It all makes his heart feel like it was in his throat. It hadn’t even been that long, barely a few days, but no one made him feel like Daniel did. Especially in these quiet simple moments together.

“I dunno if this is too fast...” Johnny says quietly. “But I love you.”

Admitting that made him feel raw and exposed. This wasn’t some bullshit relationship, he didn’t open up to people like he did with Daniel. Like it was hard for him to hide certain parts he kept locked away from everyone else.

Daniel’s chocolate Bambi eyes look impossibly soft. He reaches up and strokes Johnny’s cheek, he leans into the touch.

“I love you too Johnny.” Daniel’s voice is gentle and earnest. It melts all of those cold parts of Johnny’s heart.

Beautiful sweet caring Daniel loves him.

Johnny gives him a kiss, a gentle lingering soft lipped kiss. When they separate Daniel has the most beautiful smile.

He’d do just about anything for that smile.

It felt like a smile just for him.


End file.
